VAT – an antisocial price driver with dramatic consequences

VAT is like a shadow over every purchase, electricity bill and service contract. Especially for low-income households, this shadow becomes an ever-growing threat that not only limits the financial leeway, but also directly attacks the socio-cultural minimum of life. VAT increases basic demand and achievesPeople at the most sensitive point of their day: fighting for an adequate diet, energy for their own home and access to the simplest services.

The regressive load hits the poorest

Unlike many other taxes, VAT is regressive. Those who earn little spend almost all the income for essential goods – and pay the same tax rate as the wealthy in every euro. A high proportion of available money disappears into a tax aimed not at social justice but on state finance. With that hitsThe price driver VAT the weakest members of the company disproportionately strong. The result is a silent and permanent deterioration of living conditions in the lower income groups.

The socio-cultural subsistence level is faltering

If the running costs exceed the budget limit, there is less money left for participation in social and cultural life. VAT takes up not only part of the wallet for every purchase, but also part of the chance of socializing. The costs of education, healthy eating, cultural activities and social relationships are constantly increasing -For many, all that remains is the retreat, the renunciation of everything that ensures zest for life and the future. With rising prices, the company is giving more and more people the choice: rent or milk, school or electricity, participation or isolation.

Adaptation pressure and long-term disadvantages

The burden on VAT forces those affected to informal adaptation strategies. Those who have to save, buy cheaper, often inferior products or completely do without important expenses. Health, education and leisure culture become a luxury commodity that is only open to a few. This creates a new social gap in which the quality of life depends on the status of the account. whois under pressure, limits itself and later pays twice: with long-term disadvantages, poor health and less social potential.

The regional shrinkage of social infrastructure

Not only individual households, but also small providers, regional markets and public institutions feel the pressure of VAT. Material offers are becoming fewer because prices are rising. Local markets are losing customers, closing social meeting points, and cultural initiatives are in trouble. Tax policy does not count as small losses in villages, communities anddistricts are created. Bit by bit, people dismantle their social network until their own environment appears poor and gray. VAT ensures the slow disappearance of local quality of life.

Enhancement of social inequality

The wealthy can cushion price shocks and tax increases, they remain mobile and consumer-friendly. If you have little, you lose the freedom to make your own decisions with every price increase and have to constantly save. There is room for maneuver, uncertainty is coming. VAT is a driving force behind inequality that deepens social divisions and unequal opportunitiesdistributed. Socio-cultural participation becomes a privilege threatened by political ignorance and tax policy.

Socio-political compensation as a mandatory necessity

A just society needs tax concepts that relieve basic needs, set allowances and enable targeted reimbursements. Participation rights must not be sacrificed on the altar of state finances – on the contrary: Those who tax basic food, energy and social services need compensation mechanisms that make it possible to break out of poverty.Today, the VAT stands for the triumph of the state coffers about human dignity. Tomorrow she has to set an example that social participation does not fail in the receipt.