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What does soda tax tax? Soda or sugar soda? I mean, is diet coke also taxed? In that case, what's the reason? If not, why is it called soda tax instead of sugar
by narag 8y ago
What does soda tax tax? Soda or sugar soda? I mean, is diet coke also taxed? In that case, what's the reason? If not, why is it called soda tax instead of sugar tax?
Has the tax affected strong liquours mixes? (not sure how do you call it, i mean whisky/ron/vodka/etc + soda) Then drinking beer would be a downsizing option.
- tzs 8y agoHere's what it covers, straight from the City of Philadelphia's website [1]: > What is taxed > The tax is not just on sodas. This tax is on any non-alcoholic beverage, syrup, or other concentrate used to prepare a beverage that lists as an ingredient any form of caloric sugar-based sweetener, including, but not limited to sucrose, glucose, or high fructose corn syrup. > Drinks considered “diet” or “zero calorie” are also taxed. Specifically, this tax is on any non-alcoholic beverage, syrup or other concentrate used to prepare a beverage that lists any form of artificial sugar substitute, including stevia, aspartame, sucralose, neotame, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), saccharin, and advantame. > Examples of sweetened beverages > Soda (regular and diet); non-100%-fruit drinks; sports drinks; sweetened water; energy drinks; pre-sweetened coffee or tea; and non-alcoholic beverages intended to be mixed into an alcoholic drink. [1] https://www.phila.gov/services/payments-assistance-taxes/business-taxes/philadelphia-beverage-tax/ https://www.phila.gov/services/payments-assistance-taxes/bus...
- berbec 8y agoWhat's the logic behind not taxing 100% juice? It has just as much sugar as a Coke; the fact the sugar comes from a grape/apple/guava etc changes one thing - it's now "naturally" sweetened sugar water.
- tzs 8y agoAs a guess, it is because whether or not the tax applies seems to be based on the ingredient list. 100% orange juice, for example, typically lists either just orange juice, or orange juice plus added vitamins. So, not taxed. The less-than-100% juice drinks usually add sweeteners in addition to the sweetness that comes from the fruit juice. So, taxed.
- berbec 8y agoThink they can bypass this by using concentrated juices as sweeteners?
- narag 8y ago> Drinks considered “diet” or “zero calorie” are also taxed. That's nuts. I guess sugar providers lobbied that crap into the law to neuter it.
- chrismcb 8y agoThe soda tax is a tax on drinks sweetened with sugar. But it is taxed at the distribution level. Does the tax affect alcoholic drinks? Sure, but it is a tax per ounce. With alcoholic drinks being relatively small, and with a large markup, the tax is virtually invisible. The biggest problem with the tax is, because it is per ounce, and not a percentage it affects cheaper drinks more. The healthier drinks tend to be cheaper. A $2 bottle of coke is increased 20 cents or so, while a $2 jug of sweetened tea is doubled! It was called the soda tax because it targeted sodas. Here in Seattle they referred to it as the sugar tax, but they exempted milk based drinks. So drink up that milkshake, which is one of the worst calorie per ounce drink.
- oliwarner 8y agoWe have a sugar tax on drinks in the UK now but in my experience Coke and Pepsico just put all their prices up. Regular still costs the same as Diet/Zero, they're just paying more to government for it.