Finance Minister’s proposal to halve tax on draft beer raises storm of opposition in lower house

Finance Minister Andrej Babiš’ proposal to lower the VAT on draft beer from 21 to 10 percent raised a storm of opposition in the lower house on Friday with opposition deputies calling it “blatant populism”. The finance minister’s plan, unveiled on Czech TV on Thursday, raised eyebrows even among his coalition partners with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka saying that if the price of draft beer were to go down then the Social Democrats would push for a tax reduction on basic groceries such as meat, milk, bread and butter.