The proposed fiscal package for 2027 is being accompanied by contradictory signals from the government itself and alarm from the business community. At a technical forum at the Ministry of Finance, technical-level representatives acknowledged that some of the changes increasing the burden on enterprise were accelerated by pressure from student discontent, while experts question whether cutting VAT on food will actually lead to lower prices.
Admission at technical forum on reasons for the acceleration
One day after the Ministry of Finance presented the new fiscal proposals for 2027, the Tax Council met in a technical forum for cooperation among the administration, experts and business representatives.
According to information made public by sources present at the meeting, the government’s technical representatives acknowledged that the proposals increasing the fiscal burden on businesses were also driven by student protests and discontent.
Government justifies package with social housing and the cost of living
According to the version presented at the meeting, the reduction of VAT on food and the increase in taxes on businesses and corporations are linked to the need to meet social demands and rising living costs.
It was also stated at the same meeting that some of these measures had been planned earlier in the medium-term fiscal program and were expected to take effect in 2028, but the dynamics created by students’ demands for social housing accelerated the timetable.
Business objects: relocation to neighboring countries is at risk
This reasoning was not well received by representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who openly opposed the logic of the package.
According to them, the changes hit domestic enterprise and could push factories and businesses to move their operations to North Macedonia or Kosovo, where the fiscal climate is perceived as less punitive.
Doubts over the real effect on prices
Experts also raised serious questions about the promise that reducing VAT on staple basket products will automatically be reflected in consumers’ pockets.
According to them, state mechanisms are lacking to guarantee that this cut will translate into lower market prices rather than higher profit margins for traders.
Warning: the effect could turn into the opposite
In concluding the discussions, experts and business representatives warned that the fiscal package could produce consequences opposite to those being declared.
According to them, such an intervention risks turning an attempt to ease the cost of food into broader inflationary pressure and a blow to production and investment.
The debate over the 2027 fiscal package is highlighting not only the cost that could be passed on to business, but also the way public policies are being shaped under social pressure and with unclear guarantees about the final effect on the market.
Faced with a package that, according to critics, could burden the formal economy without ensuring real price cuts, the question remains whether the government is correcting one social problem or opening another with a higher bill.