Sugar tax

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The sugar tax is an excise tax on sugar and sugary foods.

history

Sugar was a valuable luxury food that was only available to rich and aristocratic people in Central Europe until modern times . This cane sugar was therefore also called " white gold ". It was only with the industrial production of sugar from sugar beet that sugar became a popular food for the masses from 1801 onwards . From the point of view of the state it was thus a productive and also suitable subject of taxation. Accordingly, it was not a luxury tax .

In 1840 the sugar cube was invented by Jacob Christoph Rad and in 1841 the first sugar tax law was passed in Prussia . Both the import of raw sugar from overseas and the domestic sugar made from sugar beet were taxed with the raw material tax. The tax was later converted into a pure consumption tax .

In other countries (for example England ) the tax was only levied on the import of sugar. In these cases, the tax collection was easy because it only took place through customs clearance of imported sugar. When the sugar tax was abolished in England in 1874, per capita sugar consumption rose from 23 kg (1873) to 31 kg (1880).

In most of the other sugar-producing countries the subject of taxation varied. In France and Russia the tax was levied on the finished end product, in Belgium on the semi-finished product, i.e. the amount of beet juice produced. In Germany, finally, the amount of sugar beet delivered was taxed, so the exact description of the tax was beet sugar tax .

Current

The World Health Organization advises governments to impose a special tax of at least 20 percent on beverages containing sugar. The levy could lead to a noticeable decrease in sugar consumption. As a result, fewer people would suffer from overweight , obesity , diabetes or tooth decay . Corresponding taxes have already been introduced by France, Hungary, Finland and Mexico.

Germany

The sugar tax was abolished in Germany on January 1, 1993 in order to avoid distortions of competition in view of the EC internal market.

With statements such as "Sugar makes you sick" and "there is no need to consume sugar ... as food", health insurance experts and the non-governmental organization Foodwatch are promoting the reintroduction of the sugar tax in Germany. Members of the Bundestag Health Committee supports.

Great Britain

As of April 2018, the UK will have a sugar tax on sugary beverages with the exception of fruit juices, milk-based beverages and the products of very small businesses. Drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100 milliliters are taxed at 18 pence per liter. Soft drinks with more than eight grams of sugar per 100 milliliters are taxed at 24 pence per liter.

The introduction of the tax was in the budget announced in March 2016th The purpose of the tax is to combat childhood obesity. This should be done in two ways: The producers should be given incentives to lower the sugar content of the beverages, and consumers should prefer lower-sugar beverages. The tax revenue is to flow into the expansion of sports facilities and sports programs in schools.

The government puts the cost of obesity- related illnesses in the National Health Service at £ 5.1 billion per year (as of 2015). This is more than the total cost of the police, fire brigade and the justice system.

Ireland

From April 2018, a sugar tax of 20 cents per liter will apply in Ireland for drinks containing more than five grams of sugar per 100 milliliters. A sugar tax of 30 cents applies to drinks with more than eight grams of sugar per 100 milliliters.

Switzerland

A professional initiative by the canton of Neuchâtel about a sugar tax in Switzerland was rejected by parliament in 2018/19 . Fanta and Orangina now contain more than twice as much sugar in Switzerland as in Great Britain.

See also

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Sugar tax  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wikisource: Laws for Taxation of Sugar (Germany)  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ WHO demands: Limo and Cola have to become more expensive , Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 11, 2016
  2. ↑ WHO urges global action to curtail consumption and health impacts of sugary drinks , World Health Organization (WHO), October 11, 2016
  3. ↑ Questions, answers from Berit Uhlmann: What would a sugar tax do? In: sueddeutsche.de . 2016, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on November 3, 2017]).
  4. ^ Abolished and expired taxes , Manager Magazin, December 5, 2002
  5. ↑ Too much sugar makes Germans sick , Der Tagesspiegel, March 23, 2015
  6. ↑ foodwatch criticizes the German government's information policy on sugar , Foodwatch, November 1, 2016
  7. ^ Head of health insurance for sugar tax , Handelsblatt, December 29, 2016
  8. ↑ Because of diabetes and obesity: CDU and SPD politicians demand sugar tax , Huffington Post, August 24, 2016
  9. ↑ Budget 2016. HM Treasury, accessed April 7, 2018 (English).
  10. ^ A b Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action. HM Government, August 2016, accessed April 7, 2018 .
  11. ^ ÖKO-TEST Verlag, Patrick Junker: Sugar tax: Great Britain introduces a tax on beverages. Retrieved March 30, 2018 .
  12. ^ New sugar tax confirmed in fight to combat rising obesity . In: The Independent . March 8, 2017 (English, independent.co.uk [accessed March 30, 2018]).
  13. ^ Rónán Duffy: We now know exactly when the sugar tax is coming in . In: TheJournal.ie . (English, thejournal.ie [accessed March 30, 2018]).
  14. ^ Sugar tax will be introduced on April 6 . In: RTE.ie . February 8, 2018 (English, rte.ie [accessed March 30, 2018]).
  15. ↑ 17.308 | For a federal law on sugary products and for limited access to high-energy foods. In: parlament.ch. Retrieved October 30, 2019 .
  16. ^ Lars Gotsch: Fanta & Co. - The sweeter life in Switzerland. In: srf.ch. September 19, 2018, accessed October 30, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Brigitte Wenger, Amanda Arroyo: Less sugar - one cube - many interests. In: srf.ch. October 29, 2019, accessed October 30, 2019 .