Cyprus's zero VAT rate on fresh meat and fish expires on 30 September 2026

What changed in detail

Under Decree K.D.P. 168/2026, published in the Official Gazette of the Republic (Ε.Ε.Παρ. ΙΙΙ(Ι), Αρ. 6012) on 27 March 2026 by decision of the Council of Ministers, the VAT Law was amended to impose a zero VAT rate on supplies of meat and fish from 6 April 2026 until 30 September 2026. The Tax Department announced it on 31 March 2026.

The relief is defined by tariff classification rather than by description. It covers:

• Fresh, simply chilled or frozen meat — bovine (CN 0201, 0202), pig (CN 0203), sheep and goat (CN 0204), edible offal of those animals (CN ex 0206), poultry meat and edible offal of heading 0105 birds (CN 0207), and rabbit and hare meat and edible offal (CN ex 0208).
• Fresh, simply chilled or frozen fish — fish (CN 0302, 0303, 0304) and cuttlefish, squid and octopus (CN 0307).

The Tax Department notes that preparations of meat and fish continue to carry the reduced 5% VAT rate throughout — marinated, smoked and wine-cured meats, sieftalia, burgers, chicken nuggets, sausages, lountza, roasts, gyros and polony, as well as canned fish, smoked fish, marinated and breaded fish.

The decree fixes its own end date. On 1 October 2026 the zero rate ceases to apply to these supplies and the previously applicable rate resumes.

What it means

The date that matters is the one nobody gets a reminder for. The zero rate arrived with an announcement; its expiry arrives with nothing, because it was written into the decree back in March. Systems configured in April with an open-ended zero rate will keep applying it on 1 October unless someone goes back and puts the end date in.

The classification split is the second risk. Zero-rating attaches to CN codes for fresh, chilled and frozen product; anything prepared stays at 5%. A product master that groups “meat” or “fish” as a single category cannot express that, and after 30 September it has to express something harder still: two rates that changed on different dates for lines sitting next to each other on the same shelf.