Social networks have become a stage where practices considered strange or abusive in cafes and restaurants are quickly exposed. In Spain, a simple bead of a coffee from Catalonia became viral after showing an unexpected ‘tax’ associated with a drink, according to the digital newspaper HuffPost.
The episode was released on the Soy Camarero profile, managed by Jesús Soriano, on the social network X. There was shared the image of a receipt in Catalan, which allowed the region where the situation occurred. The bead showed two croissants, a coffee with milk and a beaten, to which a 20 cents ‘tax’ was added because it is a sugary drink.
A debate that was not long before growing
The publication was accompanied by the sentence: “I had never seen this.” According to the same source, the observation generated hundreds of comments in a few hours and made room for a lighted discussion about supervision and commercial practices in restoration.
Some users recalled that in Catalonia, there has been a tax on sugary drinks for several years, created to discourage consumption. The question raised is whether, in this case, the bar will have decided to charge this amount separately, instead of including it directly on the price of the beaten.
Among the criticism, the opinion of those who considered the supplement “ridiculous” stood, stressing that, by the same logic, could also be charged an additional value for each package of sugar provided with the coffee.
Critical reactions and indignation
There were also those who stated that practices like this contribute to ward off customers. A comment, quoted by the same source, said: “If they are normalizing charging for these things, it can also be normalized to stop going to these places.”
Other participants in the debate pointed out flaws in the way the supplement was applied. According to the shared explanation, the tax on sugary drinks may be included in the final price or appear disaggregated, but should never be added before VAT.
In the bead concerned, they argued, the tax was calculated before VAT, which in practice means that the tax itself was subject to VAT. They recalled that “a tax does not pay VAT”, so the charge was incorrect.
Legal and Tax Question in Open
The case quickly extravated the simple curiosity and placed on the table the way some establishments interpret and apply the law, as referred to. The controversy surrounding the coffees and the way they apply the ‘tax’ on sugary drinks shows how a detail in a consumer bead can trigger wide discussions, crossing consumption habits, tax and commercial transparency.
In Portugal, although there is no specific tax on sugary beverages in cafes or restaurants, a rate on soft drinks and drinks has been applied since 2017. The discussion in Spain, therefore, is not so far from the national reality.
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