The tax reform proposal agreed upon by the government and part of the business sector excludes meat, powdered and evaporated milk, eggs, and electrical energy from VAT (ITBIS). Fresh vegetables including fresh or frozen potatoes, fresh or refrigerated tomatoes, onions and garlic are also excluded. The proposal, which will be submitted by President Fernandez next Monday, includes 122 tariff items in the exemption. Other exempted products include unprocessed fruit, cereals, oatmeal, rice and wheat flour. Tax Department director Juan Hernandez assured yesterday that VAT-exempt products are currently being taxed with the exchange rate commission of 13% and a 3% or 4% tariff, which means they pay 16% or 17% in taxes. After the tax reform they will remain with the same fiscal load or decrease in price. Fuels excluded from VAT include kerosene, natural gas, propane gas, crude petroleum oils, aviation gasoline, other types of gasoline and electricity. Medicines that are made of mixed products, and prepared for therapeutic use without dosage nor conditioning for retail will also be excluded from VAT. Other products to be excluded are bottled natural and mineral water, children’s food, pasta and bread, books, magazines and pre-university level educational materials. Raw materials for the manufacture of medicines for human use will be exempted from import tariffs.