The Government is to announce it will press ahead with plans for a fiscal levy on added-sugar soft drinks, when it publishes its consultation on the sugar levy on Monday.
According to MCA’s sister title, the Grocer, the Treasury has put back a decision on the rates to be paid under the levy until at least next Spring’s Budget.
The Grocer is also reporting that the Government has decided not to set the exact levies to be paid by drinks companies.
The Government has set two tiers for the levy: the lower level for drinks with more than 5% sugar content, and a higher charge for those with more than 8%.
After the plans were first announced by George Osborne, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that the cost of the levy would ‘be passed entirely on to the price paid by consumers’ at a rate of 18p per litre for the lower tier and 24p per litre for the upper tier.
“The Treasury has sadly now said that those rates won’t be set until at least the Spring Budget,” a source told the Grocer. “It’s very worrying because it gives room for industry lobbying there and for rates to be set at a lower level, which makes the whole thing ineffective.”
