Government plans sugar tax to combat rising obesity

The Polish government is working on a bill to impose additional fees on soft drinks containing sugars, a so-called sugar tax, as a tool to fight the rapid increase in being overweight and the problem of obesity, PAP has found out.

The main category of beverages to be taxed are those containing monosaccharides, disaccharides or oligosaccharides and foods containing these substances and other substances used for their sweetening properties, in line with the 2008 EC regulation on food additives.

The tax will also cover alcoholic drinks of up to 300 ml in volume as well as the advertising of dietary supplements.

Around 98 percent of receipts from the sugar tax will top up the budget of the national health fund NFZ, while the remaining 2 percent will be used by the Finance Ministry for the tax-related operating costs.