{"id":634,"date":"2025-08-24T15:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T13:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ambitionsverige.se\/?p=634"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:47:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T09:47:37","slug":"food-or-the-state-how-long-will-we-accept-starving-for-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ambitionsverige.se\/en\/politik\/ekonomi\/maten-eller-staten-hur-lange-ska-vi-acceptera-att-svalta-for-politiken\/","title":{"rendered":"The food or the state? How long will we accept starvation for politics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When VAT on food was introduced in 1969, it was to solve an acute crisis in government finances. It was
\nwas intended as a \u201dtemporary\u201d measure in a crisis situation. But like so many others
\n\u201ctemporary\u201d taxes, it stayed. Year after year, government after government, it has been expanded,
\ndefended and normalised.<\/p>\n

Today, we pay 12% VAT on the food we buy. That may sound modest. But in <\/strong>
\nIn practice, this means that over SEK 40 billion disappears each year directly from <\/strong>
\nhousehold coffers, straight into the state's black hole.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For perspective: the state administration thus the bureaucratic apparatus with all
\nauthorities are made up of 367 separate agencies for a country of just 10 million inhabitants.
\nBureaucracy costs around SEK 145 billion every year.
\nBy comparison, the Paris region is home to more people than the whole of Sweden, but it does not need
\n400 authorities to make society work. Yet we still insist on keeping a
\noversized machinery that grows every year.<\/p>\n

We could have cut down this gigantic machine, cleared away the excess and used
\nmoney to something that actually makes a difference: removing VAT on food so people don't have to
\ngo hungry in one of the richest countries in the world. But in Sweden, the prestige of politics and
\nthe self-interest of the state apparatus over the basic needs of citizens.
\nIt doesn't matter that parents can't afford to feed their children or that pensioners
\nskipping meals. The main thing is that the system gets its due.
\nTaxes above all. Bureaucracy and the system before people. And when you question
\nyou are told that \u201cthere is no room in the budget\u201d.<\/p>\n

We have turned the logic on its head: citizens must starve to feed the system<\/h2>\n

It is as if we have collectively forgotten why VAT was introduced in the first place.<\/p>\n

A double tax on people's everyday lives<\/h2>\n

Think about it for a moment: when you buy food for already taxed money often after paying
\nsome of the highest marginal tax rates in the world, you are forced to pay additional tax\/VAT. It is a
\ndouble taxation that hits hardest those with the least margins.<\/p>\n

For single parents, pensioners and low-income earners, VAT on food is not an abstract
\npercentage. It is the difference between eating cooked food every day or having to buy it
\ncheapest rubbish that makes people sick. We are heading towards a class society where some can afford
\nwith nutritious food and health, while others are trapped in poverty and ill health. This gap is growing
\nfor each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cTax expenditure\u201d - a strange word for a tax that should never have existed<\/h2>\n

When you read the government's budget, it is called a \u201ctax expenditure\u201d that VAT on food is at 12 %
\ninstead of 25 %. In practice, this means that the government counts the missing surcharge as a
\nlost income as if it were a cost.
\nPut simply:<\/p>\n