Sugar Tax

Generali

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_aMZWv-7FY (SFW)

I've been having a bit of a look at the Sugar Tax and its impact should it ever come to be (it is looking highly likely to be subject to a legal challenge under EU competition law).

So what is the impact likely to be?

At the average not a lot. The average UK household spends £1.90 on 1.5l per person of soft drink a week. 1.5l of soda would attract a tax of up to 36p at 24p/litre so increasing the average spend from £1.90 to £2.26, assuming no substitution (which there would be).

However, you can buy 2 x 2 litre Tesco Colas for 90p. That would attract a tax of 96p! You can bet that there are plenty of households that go through 2 litres of fizzy pop or more a day so the tax could easily be £3 or £4. That is an appreciable amount when the average spend on food and not-booze is £58.50 a week.

For Mr and Mrs Lazy-Stereotype, living on benefits with 5 kids and Sky TV the tax could well cause them to change their soft-drink behaviour.

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

For Mr and Mrs Lazy-Stereotype, living on benefits with 5 kids and Sky TV the tax could well cause them to change their soft-drink behaviour.

Or pop out another sprog for the extra bennies.

How much is an extra sprog worth/week? How much fizzy Mr T cola would that buy them?

PasturesNew

While the discussion's been all about supermarkets, they sell/serve fizzy pop in pubs, cafes, restaurants and chip shops too.

Most people probably wouldn't think of the soft drinks they had in those settings as being the same fizzy pop they plonk in the trolley.

Feral_Moon

Won't affect me as I never buy sugar laden fizzy soft drinks. One way around it is to buy sugar free squash and dilute with soda water. That's about as close to a fizzy drink I ever get.

Generali

PasturesNew wrote: »

While the discussion's been all about supermarkets, they sell/serve fizzy pop in pubs, cafes, restaurants and chip shops too.

Most people probably wouldn't think of the soft drinks they had in those settings as being the same fizzy pop they plonk in the trolley.

The difference, for me, is that if you go to El Restaurante Posho and pay £5 for a 250ml bottle of Fevertree tonic water then you'll pay 6p in tax. The restaurant will probably even swallow (ahem) the tax rise as putting £5.06 will ruin the look of the menu.

Even in Maccas the price rise will be trivial really. £1.29 for a 500ml large Coke will attract a tax of 12p. I guess that's almost 10% but still it's nothing like the impact that will be felt on bargain basement soft drinks.

It looks like this is a tax squarely aimed at the poor and at changing the behaviour of the poor.

mwpt

And as usual, the ........ing social justice warriors are out in force on the blogosphere (or whatever) being all shouty about how nasty Osborne is with this as yet another "tax on the poor".

Are the left just so reduced in moral fibre that this is what they've come to? A Pavlovian response to everything the Tories do. Quote from some moron:

"The tax would be immoral, however, whether it worked or it didn't, because it fails to respect the choices of the poor and strips them of even more cash, while leaving the middle classes mostly alone. It's double regressive: firstly by being a tax on a product, rather than income, and secondly by targeting a product disproportionately consumed by those on lower incomes."

Yes, it's all about failure to respect their choices, right?

Any bets this same blogger is vehemently opposed to Universal Credit rather than direct HB payments and so forth because some people have "problems budgeting and won't be able to save to afford the rent"?

I want to go out and punch the entire stupid moronic auto response left winger liberati in the face. Or if that is socially unacceptable, then knock their lattes all over their hung yogurt and eggs on sourdough bread brunch.

michaels

I guess at least unlike tobacco products the tax rate is low and transport costs are high so it won't just be avoided via illegal imports.

Although you suggest it will impact cheaper products more proportionately, the same amount of tax will be paid on the same amount of sugar consumed.

Feral_Moon

Generali wrote: »

The difference, for me, is that if you go to El Restaurante Posho and pay £5 for a 250ml bottle of Fevertree tonic water then you'll pay 6p in tax. The restaurant will probably even swallow (ahem) the tax rise as putting £5.06 will ruin the look of the menu.

Even in Maccas the price rise will be trivial really. £1.29 for a 500ml large Coke will attract a tax of 12p. I guess that's almost 10% but still it's nothing like the impact that will be felt on bargain basement soft drinks.

It looks like this is a tax squarely aimed at the poor and at changing the behaviour of the poor.

And a good thing too if it helps reduce incidences of obesity and T2 diabetes which will end up bankrupting the NHS. They have a choice as to whether they buy the stuff. No one is forcing them to. Quite simple really.

HappyMJ

Generali wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_aMZWv-7FY (SFW)

I've been having a bit of a look at the Sugar Tax and its impact should it ever come to be (it is looking highly likely to be subject to a legal challenge under EU competition law).

So what is the impact likely to be?

At the average not a lot. The average UK household spends £1.90 on 1.5l per person of soft drink a week. 1.5l of soda would attract a tax of up to 36p at 24p/litre so increasing the average spend from £1.90 to £2.26, assuming no substitution (which there would be).

However, you can buy 2 x 2 litre Tesco Colas for 90p. That would attract a tax of 96p! You can bet that there are plenty of households that go through 2 litres of fizzy pop or more a day so the tax could easily be £3 or £4. That is an appreciable amount when the average spend on food and not-booze is £58.50 a week.

For Mr and Mrs Lazy-Stereotype, living on benefits with 5 kids and Sky TV the tax could well cause them to change their soft-drink behaviour.

Does anyone actually like Tesco Value Cola? That product will most likely just be removed from sale or replaced with the NAS variety.

I doubt it will change anything. Maybe a few people will reduce how much they drink and the government will deem it a success but the people most likely to reduce soft drink consumption will be the people in the ABC1 demographic. Generally people in C2DE demographic already lead unhealthy lives and these "sin taxes" are just accepted. Just look at smoking rates and demographics. Twice as many people in the DE demographic smoke than those in the AB demographic. If they can't afford it why are they wasting money on smoking when they could be spending it elsewhere on more useful expenses. I think it'll be the same with a sugar tax...some people will reduce consumption but most won't change anything.

wymondham

Will we see trips to Calais to stock up on Coke?

PasturesNew

Generali wrote: »

It looks like this is a tax squarely aimed at the poor and at changing the behaviour of the poor.

Ration Books would work better.... ration everything.

The thing is, sugar's not just in drinks - there's all those cakes and things. I was in Lidl last night (popped out for some Pepsi) and I must've been the ONLY person not buying an Easter egg! I couldn't believe it, everybody had 3-4 of them! There was such a rush on, I started to wonder if I was missing out, I nearly got one myself!