The sugar tax is a levy put on drinks companies to crack down on high sugar levels in soft drinks. Companies are now taxed according to the sugar content of their wares. The sugar tax is designed to reduce the consumption of drinks with added sugar. Our post about sugar tax.
Sugar Act, also called Plantation Act or Revenue Act, (1764), in U.S. colonial history, British legislation aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies and at providing increased revenues to fund enlarged British Empire responsibilities following the French and Indian Further reading: sugar act.
The AMA proposes Australia implement a tax of A$0.40 per 100 grams of sugar (per unit of product).
It seems straightforward: Taxing sugary beverages makes them more expensive, reducing consumption and leading would-be soda-guzzlers to lead healthier lives. Obesity declines, as do the myriad health conditions associated with a sugar-rich diet. More reading: palm oil farming.
Manufacturers of soft drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml have been made to pay a levy of 18p a litre to the Treasury, or 24p a litre for sugar content over 8g per 100ml, since the tax came into force in April 2018. Our post about mountain dew flavors.
Taxation on sugary drinks is an effective intervention to reduce sugar consumption (8). Evidence shows that a tax on sugary drinks that rises prices by 20% can lead to a reduction in consumption of around 20%, thus preventing obesity and diabetes(9).
It shows that the sugar tax on soft drinks introduced in 2017 has proved unexpectedly successful and has led to a 28.8% fall in the amount of sugar contained in such beverages. The amount of sugar people consumed from such products rose by 16.3% during 2017-18, and from biscuits by 3.1%, PHE said.
No state currently has an excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, soda taxes are levied locally in Boulder, Colorado; the District of Columbia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and four California cities: Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco.
One of the most common arguments used to oppose taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages is that such taxes are regressive, and it is unfair to make poorer people pay a larger share of their limited incomes to consume these products, when compared to wealthier people.
As more countries and cities consider taxes on sugary beverages, some experts are beginning to look beyond drinks. In the study, researchers conclude that a 20 percent price increase on high-sugar snacks could lead to a 2 percent decrease in obesity in a year.
The first sugar tax on soft drinks was implemented in Hungary in 2011, part of a wider tax on pre-packed sweetened products, salty snacks and condiments, followed by France in 2012, charging manufacturers the equivalent of an extra 6p per litre for any beverage containing added sugar or artificial sweeteners.
The levy will tax the soft drinks industry for total sugar content over 5g per 100ml and apply to drinks such as Coke, Red Bull and Irn Bru. It is estimated to raise around £520 million a year, which will be spent on increasing funding sport in primary schools.
THE GOVERNMENT RAISED €33 million through the sugar tax last year, almost €2 million lower than had been forecast. The amount raised in 2019, however, was more than a doubling on the €16.3 million raised through the sugar tax the year before.
Passing on half the cost of the levy to consumers in higher prices for high- and mid-sugar drinks of up to 20 per cent was estimated to reduce the number of adults and children with obesity by 81,600; result in 10,800 fewer cases of diabetes; and 149,000 fewer decaying teeth a year.
In fact, research conducted by Oxford Economics back in 2016 found that the sugar tax would eventually lead to more than 4,000 job losses across the UK. It's been a bad year for the sugar tax - it has failed to change consumer behaviour and has brought in far less revenue for HM Treasury than expected.
On the 100 days either side of the implementation date (6 April 2018), 11% of the eligible drinks changed sugar content so that they were no longer liable.
Titled The American Revenue Act of 1764On April 5, 1764, Parliament passed a modified version of the Sugar and Molasses Act (1733), which was about to expire. Under the Molasses Act colonial merchants had been required to pay a tax of six pence per gallon on the importation of foreign molasses.
The mean sugar content of the 83 products decreased by 42 percent between 2014 and 2018, from 9.1 to 5.3 g/100 mL. The significant decreases in the sugar and energy content after the levy came into effect suggest that this tax has been effective.