Member of Parliament Élvio Sousa, from the Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP) party, has claimed that Madeira has the highest VAT among the European Union's Outermost Regions (ORs). This statement was made during a weekly political intervention where Sousa expressed concern over the reality faced by thousands of families on the island.
An examination of Value Added Tax (VAT) rates and equivalent taxes across the nine ORs, including French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Réunion, Mayotte, the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira, suggests that Madeira, with its rates of 5%, 12%, and 22%, indeed has the highest indirect tax on consumption.
It is worth noting that some French regions, such as Guadeloupe and Martinique, levy additional taxes on imported goods, like the Octroi de Mer, which can increase the overall tax burden on consumption, though they are not directly comparable to VAT.
