Report set to recommend increase in price of fizzy drinks
A report commissioned by the Health Minister is said to recommend a hike in excise duty on minerals.
According to the Irish Independent, the document will be submitted to the Obesity Committee of the Department of Health today, which will then have to decide whether to recommend the move.
Fizzy drinks are already subject to a 23% VAT rate, and a possible 10% increase in excise duty could push up drink prices by 20 cent a bottle.
Professor Richard Layte from the ESRI said that it could be effective:
"When you look at the evidence, what it suggests is that [particularly for carbonated drinks, sugary carbonated drinks, which contribute quite significantly to … obesity, that if they are taxed at a higher rate, even if that difference in price is actually quite small, that that leads to different patterns of consumption which itself then can lead to lower rates of overweight and obesity," he said.
