End of sweet life: additional tax on sugary drinks may come in Ukraine

There’s a lot of information out there today about how sugar harms our health, and that’s why those who support proper nutrition are doing their best to eliminate it from their diet. Of course, it is very difficult to give up sugar completely because it is in the composition of daily products, but you can consume sugar much less. For example, do not sweeten your tea or coffee, do not give up sweets and soda. By the way, an additional tax on sweet sodas may come in Ukraine so that Ukrainians consume as little as possible. This is stated in draft law 9032 “On amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on the imposition of tax on water, including mineral and carbonated, with the addition of sugar or other sweeteners or aromatic substances.”

Where did the idea for the soda tax come from?

This issue was first discussed in early 2022, when Mikhail Radutsky, chairman of the parliamentary committee on the health of the nation, announced that the Verkhovna Rada was discussing the possibility of imposing a tax on sugary sodas. According to him, soda is very harmful because the sugar in it is absorbed very quickly and overloads our pancreas and liver. In the future, this is fraught with the development of diabetes, disruption of the cardiovascular system and obesity.

“Also, manufacturers often use synthetic sweeteners, preservatives, dyes, sweeteners instead of sugar in carbonated drinks. The use of such drinks is especially harmful for people at risk (with the above diseases), because high doses of sugar can significantly complicate the course of an existing disease,” he said.

According to him, there are about 20-25 grams of sugar (five teaspoons) in a glass of sweet carbonated drink. This is almost 30% of the daily sugar requirement. If a person drinks a liter of such a drink, the recommended daily amount of sugar will be exceeded immediately.

Radutsky also shared data from a study by the Ukraine News Bulletin that stated that as of 2022, 28.3% of the adult population in the country consumes sweet soft drinks, bottled iced tea and sweet compote more than once a week. And more than two-thirds of parents don’t mind their kids drinking cola and sugar-packed juices.

Where and how does the sugar tax on soda work?

A special tax on sugary sodas is in effect in many countries of the world. If we talk about Europe, for example, in Latvia, such a tax was introduced almost 20 years ago. Polish sugar tax Such a tax, which appeared on April 1, 2021, also started to work. There, producers pay 0.15 euros per liter of sweet drink.

In Israel, a soda tax was introduced in the spring of 2022. For drinks with a sugar content of more than 5 g per 100 g of liquid, manufacturers pay 0.3 Euro / l.

The same practice started to be implemented in Kazakhstan as of 2023. True, here the tax will initially be at the level of 20%, in 2024 it will be increased to 35% and in 2025 to 45%.

Offered in Ukraine

In the draft law numbered 9032, it has been suggested that mineral and carbonated waters with added sugar or sweeteners be included in the list of goods subject to SCT.

It is assumed that producers must pay an excise tax of UAH 10 for every 25 g of sugar or other sweetener per liter of beverage. At the same time, during martial law, but until the end of 2023, a preferential rate of 5 UAH per liter of 25 grams of sugar will be introduced.

One liter of normal fresh water usually contains about 100 g of sugar. This means that the full consumption rate for such a drink will be UAH 40 per liter, and the preferential rate will be UAH 20.

At the same time, the explanatory note in the document states that tax policy measures that cause the retail price of sugar-containing beverages to increase by at least 20% will lead to a proportional decrease in the consumption of carbonated beverages.

“According to WHO research, taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages has great potential in Ukraine, especially due to its ability to increase tax revenues while raising prices and reducing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.”

Initiators of the bill From the OPPL party, which was banned in Ukraine, two Ukrainian parliamentarians became – Anatoly Burmich and Antonina Savitskaya.

It should be noted that on February 20, 2023, the document was handed over to deputies of the Verkhovna Rada for consideration. It is still unknown when they will vote for him and whether they will vote.

Previously Focus He wrote that a tax may arise in Ukraine and the proceeds from it will be used to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Despite the fact that in 2014 a special military tax was introduced in our country – a tax of 1.5% of the salary for financing the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Moreover Focus He said that in Ukraine they want to amend the Tax Code to impose a limit on the total amount of deposits that are not taxed by individuals.