Soft Drinks Industry 'Sugar' Levy - policy paper published

Further to our previous article about the proposal for a soft drinks levy - 'Soft Drinks Industry Levy the Sugar Tax the Current Position' - the Government have just issued a policy paper on this.

This confirms:

• The levy will affect all UK producers of soft drinks, importers of soft drinks, retailers of soft drinks and consumers who buy soft drinks in the UK.
• This will be a new levy that applies to the production and importation of soft drinks containing added sugar.  The levy will apply to the producers and importers of these types of drinks. It will have a lower rate which will apply to added sugar drinks with a total sugar content of 5 grams or more per 100 millilitres and a higher rate for drinks with 8 grams or more per 100 millilitres.
• Alcoholic drinks with an Alcohol by volume of up to 1.2% are included in the levy. The Government will make provision to exempt certain drinks that fall within this category from the levy.
• The levy will take effect from April 2018.
• Legislation will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2017 that will set out:
  • the scope of the levy by reference to the type of product, added sugar and sugar thresholds
  • what drinks are not within scope of the levy
  • who will be liable to register in relation to the levy and who will need to pay the levy
  • liability for registering and paying the levy by defining the taxable person when that person is an importer
  • provisions for an export credit scheme
  • who will benefit from exemptions
  • how the levy will be paid, collected recovered and enforced
  • the levy rates for the 5g and 8g thresholds

The policy paper can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/soft-drinks-industry-levy/soft-drinks-industry-levy