Philippines

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1792108/tax-on-junk-food-higher-soft-drink-levy-pushed

The Marcos administration is reviving a plan to tax junk food and increase the imposts on sweetened drinks to address health issues especially among Filipino children and at the same time generate revenues for the cash-strapped government.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a statement on Wednesday night that his department and the Department of Health (DOH) were jointly pushing such taxes “as a proactive measure to [address] diabetes, obesity and noncommunicable diseases related to poor diet.”

They assume that consumption of salty foods would decrease by 21 percent yearly, if there were such a tax.

Diokno said that, under the proposal, a tax of P10 per 100 grams or P10 per 100 milliliters would be imposed on prepackaged food products that lack nutritional value.

The finance chief said the levy would cover products that exceed the DOH’s specified thresholds for fat, salt and sugar content—including confectioneries, snacks, desserts and frozen confectioneries.

The Department of Finance (DOF) also wants to increase the sweetened beverage tax rate under the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) law to P12 per liter, or double the current level, regardless of the type of sweetener used in the products, according to Diokno.

He added that the tax rate would be adjusted annually for inflation “and exemptions will be eliminated to broaden the tax base.”