– I think it is not fair, there is actually food for everyone here, says Per Jone Andersen. He enjoyed today’s free meal, which he has picked up from the Church’s City Mission. Because the food is donated to the aid organization, Liv Ohrstrand, who is a volunteer, cannot provide for herself. The VAT regulations ensure that. – I think there should be more flexibility in the regulations, says Ohrstrand. A VAT rule that came into force in 2016 means that Josephine’s café has had to close the ordinary café operations. It happened last year, when the Church’s City Mission got help interpreting the VAT rules. If the Church’s City Mission is left with leftovers, they must throw the food away, instead of giving it away to volunteers and staff. Tom Erik Eltervåg and Inge Takle Mæstad would like to serve food to everyone who wants it. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news – Only those who are defined as “needy” can get free food, explains Inge Takle Mæland, regional manager of the Church’s Bymission, Region West. Now they experience a doubling in consumption and therefore throw away very little food. But in a normal situation, food would have been thrown away, he acknowledges. Inge Takle Mæstad, regional manager of the Church’s City Mission, Region West. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news Closed café and less food rescue Before anyone could pop into Josephine’s café for a reasonable bite to eat. Now the cafe can no longer accept ordinary customers, because they cannot charge for food they have received free of charge from businesses and the Food Centre. This means that they can save less food. – Many are happy because they can come in and eat a free meal. It’s good, but I can save less food than before. I can’t create something that can also be sold, says chef Torill Aardal. Chef Torill Aardal in Kirkens Bymisjon misses the vibrant, inclusive community the café operation created locally. Photo: Hanne Høyland / news The rules create dividing lines In Norway, the aim is to reduce food waste by 50 per cent by 2030. The government has therefore created a Food Waste Committee, which will look at how to reduce food waste. Among other things, the committee will come up with a proposal for a food waste law. The Church’s City Mission thinks it is good that there are regulations that protect food donations. They still want more flexibility so that they can take care of the community and save food in a better way. The tax authorities on the VAT rule for free food From 2016, an exemption from value added tax has been granted when food is delivered free of charge to a recipient for distribution on a charitable basis. The rules state that taxable actors (registered businesses in Norway) in the food industry must not calculate value added tax on the withdrawal of food and beverages that are delivered free of charge to recipients who are registered in the Entities Register. The recipient, on the other hand, must distribute the goods on a charitable basis and document the withdrawal. The purpose of the rule is to reduce food waste by preventing businesses from destroying food instead of giving it away to charity. The requirement that the recipient must be registered in the Entity Register and that the withdrawal must be documented is due to control considerations. One wishes to prevent the exemption from being misused, for example, to cover up black sales or for the goods to be used privately. A cafe that delivers food free of charge to recipients registered in the Organization Register for distribution on a charitable basis will, in the same way as a grocery store, be covered by the exemption. As the exemption is written, the same foodstuffs must be distributed further from the recipient to those in need. The VAT Act also has an alternative exemption from VAT for services that are provided free of charge on a charitable basis. This exemption can be used by cafes and catering establishments that, from their own catering business, provide catering services on a charitable basis directly to needy people. The withdrawal must be documented. The two exemptions are, respectively, the first and second paragraphs of the Value Added Tax Act § 6–19. Source: Law on Value Added Tax (VAT Act) For them, the community is an important factor that bleeds under the current rules. It has never been the Church’s City Mission’s goal to make money from the food they used to sell, but it created an inclusive community. – The regulations, as they are today, create dividing lines between them and us. Those who need and those who want to be part of the community, says Mæland. It will also mean that the Church’s City Mission and similar aid organizations can save even more food, they believe. – It’s great that Kirkens Bymisjon has a cafe offering that brings people together from all walks of life. They do an important job, and contribute so that people who like to experience life as a bit demanding, can have it a little easier, says State Secretary Lars Vangen (Sp). State Secretary Lars Vangen (Sp). He still cannot promise that the rules will become more flexible. And points out that charitable organizations can have a turnover of NOK 140,000 without calculating VAT, while the amount limit for ordinary traders is NOK 50,000. – If charitable organizations run businesses with a large enough turnover, for example from catering, they must charge value added tax in the same way as all other businesses, he says. news has been in contact with Petter Haas Brubakk, who hires the Food Waste Committee. They do not wish to comment on what is in their report until he has finished. It will be delivered on 31 December this year.
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VAT rules ruin the cafe operation of the Church’s Bymission – could save more food – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
