The zero rate of VAT on basic foods has been extended and widened. It now runs on two start dates, and it sits alongside an earlier zero-rate basket that ends sooner. For anyone selling food, the work is in the product list, not the headline.
The legal basis
The change is made by Decree Κ.Δ.Π. 354/2026, issued by decision of the Council of Ministers and published in the Official Gazette on 30 September 2026. It amends the VAT Law and was announced by the Tax Department on 2 October 2026.
From 1 October 2026: meat and fish
Fresh, chilled or frozen meat and fish are zero-rated from 1 October 2026 to 31 May 2027. This continues the zero rate that applied to meat and fish from April to September 2026. The decree identifies the goods by customs tariff heading:
- beef, pork, and sheep or goat meat, with their edible offal;
- poultry meat and offal, and rabbit and hare meat; and
- fish, together with cuttlefish, squid and octopus.
Prepared products stay at the reduced rate of 5%. The Tax Department lists marinated, smoked and wine-cured meats, sheftalia, burgers, chicken nuggets, sausages, lountza, gyros and similar products. For fish, tins, smoked, marinated and breaded products remain at 5%.
From 12 October 2026: bread, milk, coffee, sugar and baby food
A second group is zero-rated from 12 October 2026 to 31 May 2027:
- Bread, fresh or frozen, of every kind, including pitta, baguette and sliced bread. Bakery products, dried bread and bread with added ingredients such as raisins, nuts or herbs are not included.
- Milk: fresh, condensed, long-life and flavoured milk, and plant-based milk such as almond, soya or rice.
- Coffee: green, roasted, ground, powdered or instant, flavoured or decaffeinated, in any packaging. Ready-made drinks based on coffee, hot or cold, are excluded.
- Sugar: granulated, icing, coarse, cubes and sachets.
- Baby food in powder, dry or liquid form. Snacks are excluded, including crisps, nuts, sweets, chocolates, ice cream and yoghurts.
The other basket ends sooner
A separate zero rate, under Decree Κ.Δ.Π. 337/2025, already covers infant milk, nappies, feminine hygiene products and a list of fresh vegetables and fruit. That basket runs only to 31 December 2026. From 1 January 2027, unless it is extended again, those goods return to their normal rate while meat, bread and milk stay at zero until the end of May. Tills and price lists need both end dates.
What this means in practice
The rate follows the exact product, not the shelf it sits on. A fresh chicken breast is zero-rated; the same breast marinated is not. A loaf is zero-rated; a raisin loaf is not. Product codes should be mapped one by one, with the tariff heading where there is doubt, rather than switched by category.
Each group also has its own date. Point-of-sale and accounting systems should switch meat and fish from 1 October and the second group from 12 October, and invoices issued around those dates should carry the rate for the date of supply.
A zero rate is not an exemption. Zero-rated sales remain taxable supplies, so VAT on costs remains deductible. A business whose sales become mostly zero-rated may move from paying VAT to claiming a refund, and should plan its cash flow and returns accordingly.
Sources: the Tax Department’s announcements of 2 October 2026 on Decree Κ.Δ.Π. 354/2026 and of 15 January 2026 on the basket running to 31 December 2026.
This note sets out the VAT position as announced up to 5 October 2026 and is not professional advice. Rates and the goods they cover change, and how they apply depends on the exact product. Please contact us before acting on anything set out here.