VAT Cut Benefits Everyone In Paris

Edited by Sophie Delon

Earlier this year, France announced a major cut in its VAT (Value Added Tax) rate. Effective from 1st July in the restaurant sector, the cut from 19.6% to 5.5% has brought about a number of changes. The price of items such as meat, fish, soft drinks, mineral water and coffee is now down by 11.8%. Eager to take advantage of this new legislation, some of the capital’s restaurants and restaurant chains have already taken steps to ensure the cut benefits customers, the capital’s residents and visitors alike.

The Libre Sens restaurant on rue Marbeuf, in the 8th arrondissement, for example, has reduced its prices by 12.30% on more than ten items, and has placed red flyers on all of its tables to explain its move to customers: a very pleasant surprise for the many foreign visitors who were unawareof the change. The Léon de Bruxelles restaurant chain has also moved with the times: more than forty prices on its menu have been lowered and, since the summer of 2009, five dishes are now available for under ten euros. The celebrated brasserie Chez Clément (part of the Frères Blanc group, which also owns the Procope, Flora Danica and Charlot) has also joined in the movement by cutting its prices by 11.9% to reflect the drop in VAT. This reduction concerns twelve items, instead of the seven required by French law. Over at Hippopotamus (part of the Flo group, which manages Tablapizza, Petit Bofinger, and renowned brasseries such as La Coupole, Chez Julien and Le Vaudeville), the gastronomic tradition may be different, but the approach to prices is the same. The brand has cut the price of around fifty products, as the poster placed in the windows of its 130 restaurants suggests: “lowering prices, heightening the pleasure.”