Should the Sugar Tax Be Removed?

 by Tareef Ahmed

According to a variety of sources, Liz Truss (the new Prime Minister) is said to be preparing to remove the “Sugar Tax” which was introduced in 2018 and was somewhat a controversial matter. The Sugar Tax was a tax on drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml and would face a tax of either 18p per litre or 24p per litre depending on the amount of sugar in these drinks, paid directly from manufacturers to HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs).

This tax meant that manufacturers would either have to: reduce the amount of sugar in their drinks in order to pay less of this tax; keep the ingredients and the price the same but reduce their profit margin or to pass the levy cost to consumers by increasing the price of the beverages. The main goal of this tax was to help lower obesity levels in the UK as since 1993, the proportion of adults in England who are overweight or obese had risen by more than 11%. The tax would act as a disincentive for consumers to purchase these sugary drinks which were bad for their health, or encourage firms to reduce the amount of sugar in them making it a healthier option.

This was however heavily unpopular as many popular drink brands had decided to change their formulas to cut sugar leading them to not taste the same, for example Fanta and Lucozade. As a result of changing their formulas, many people had complained about their favourite drinks losing their taste and no longer being enjoyable, hence there being backlash against the implementation of the sugar tax. People were not fond of the “nanny state” where the government is overprotective and interferes with personal choice and matters such as people’s health and diet.

Liz Truss who became Prime Minister on the 6th September 2022 has an anti-regulation stance and is said to be reviewing obesity control measures, something that is likely to result in the removal of many of them such as the sugar tax.

“People don’t want the government telling them what to eat” was said by Truss in August whilst in the leadership race to become the Prime Minister, showing her thoughts on this whole situation.

If the sugar tax were to be removed, there would be very little incentive for firms to actually lower the prices of their products due to knowing the demand at the given price remains strong, so keeping their prices stable but having reduced costs will lead to greater profit margins for these companies. The manufacturers may also not revert back to their old formulas with higher quantities of sugar so expecting the flavours of a pre-2018 fizzy drink may leave you disappointed.

The question remains though, Should the Sugar Tax be removed in the UK or should it remain?