Sellers of cannabidiol (CBD) products have criticised plans to levy a 23% VAT rate on their products, while gardai are “raiding” their shops.

The shopowners claim it does not make sense for one arm of the state to classify their products as food supplements for tax purposes, even as gardai are seizing them amid concerns about their legality.

JP O’Brien, owner of Little Collins CBD Dispensary in Galway, whose cafe was raided on May 10, said he was opposed to VAT being levied but feared he “might not even be here” by the time it is introduced in November. “What concerns me is the hypocrisy between the government trying to tax a product in one breath and then seizing said product,” he said.

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