- A sugar tax is a tax on sugary drinks, also called a Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax (SSBT). Public health advocates say an SSBT in Australia and New Zealand could help reduce consumption of SSBs and thereby reduce obesity and other associated diseases. The United Kingdom has recently joined France, Hungary, Chile and Mexico in introducing a SSBT.
What does the sugar tax do?
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.
What is sugar tax Ireland?
The Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax (SSDT) came into effect on 1 May 2018 and applied to water and juice based drinks. The supplier is liable to account for and pay the tax. The tax applies to water and juice based drinks which have added sugar and a total sugar content of five grams or more per 100 millilitres.
What is the sugar tax Australia?
The AMA proposes Australia implement a tax of A$0.40 per 100 grams of sugar (per unit of product).
What is sugar tax in the UK?
The UK public is consuming less sugar following the introduction of the sugar tax on soft drinks. Under this legislation, drinks with more than 8g sugar per 100ml are taxed at 24p a litre. Drinks with more than 5g – but less than 8g– are taxed at 18p a litre. Drinks with less than 5g are exempt.
Why is the sugar tax good?
There is a very strong economic, social and personal benefit from a sugar tax. It will play a role in encouraging a healthier diet and at the same time raise money to deal with the rapidly rising health costs associated with obesity and excess sugar consumption.
Did the sugar tax work?
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.
Would a sugar tax work?
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).
Is a sugar tax effective?
Their findings show that the average sugar content of 83 products decreased by 42%. Although the tax seems effective, the authors also conclude that sugar content still varies considerably and that the levy thresholds could be reduced and the tax increased to drive further reformulation of soft drinks.
Why Australia needs a sugar tax?
The Australian sugar industry will face some transition costs as more sugar will need to be exported, as about 80 per cent is already. The revenue raised by the new tax could go to promoting healthier eating, preventing obesity, reducing the budget deficit or a variety of other purposes.
Why there shouldn’t be a sugar tax?
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.
How does sugar tax reduce obesity?
The new study paper,1 funded by the National Institute for Health Research, said, “ Increasing the price of high sugar snacks by 20% could reduce energy intake and BMI to more than twice that observed for similar price increases on sugar sweetened beverages, but with strong variability across household income and BMI
Did the sugar tax work UK?
The study showed that the volume of soft drinks bought remained the same but the amount of sugar in those drinks fell by 29.5g. UK households bought 10% less sugar through soft drinks in the year after the sugar tax was introduced by the government, new research shows.
Has sugar tax worked in the UK?
A sugar tax on soft drinks has now been in operation in the UK for more than a year and results so far seem to indicate it’s working. Such taxes have been implemented in 28 countries and 12 cities as of 2019.
Where is there a sugar tax?
Among nations in the Middle East and Africa, sugar taxes are in play in countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and South Africa. In Asia Pacific, several long-standing sugar taxes are in effect and more recent legislation has been applied in Thailand and Malaysia.