JD Wetherspoon has warned that the price of food in its pubs across the UK is set to rise again.
The budget pub chain was one of the few to pass on savings from the VAT reduction to customers, slashing the prices of beers and meals.
But with the VAT rate set to increase again in September, Spoons has said that it will have to bump up the price of its food again too.
They say that punters can expect up to 40p per meal to be added to the bill once VAT rises in September.
The company has criticised the Government for 'Monty Python' rules, which it says unfairly helps supermarkets and retail over hospitality venues like pubs and restaurants.
Hot food in pubs usually has a VAT rate of 20 per cent, but Chancellor Rishi Sunak reduced it to five per cent during the pandemic.
Wetherspoon celebrated the move by offering cut-price pints on a 'Sunak's Specials' menu.
The rate will soon rise to an interim rate of 12.5 per cent from October 1, until next March.
A Wetherspoon spokesperson said: "The VAT rise will make the entire hospitality industry less competitive vis a vis powerful supermarkets.
"For many years, UK governments have therefore behaved like Monty Python’s Dennis Moore – who robbed the poor (in this case pubs and restaurants) to help the rich (supermarkets).
"Treating the same product, food, the same way for tax purposes makes economic sense."
The pub company said like-for-like sales from May 17, when hospitality venues were able to reopen indoors, to July 4 declined by 14.6 per cent against the same period last year.
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