The proposed tax on sugary drinks is likely to be introduced in April 2018, Treasury deputy director general Ismail Momoniat announced in parliament on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
However, there is\u00a0still disagreement on the exact level of tax, with businesses wanting a revised tax every three years, while Treasury wants to implement its current proposal of approximately 10% on a soft drink can, and increase this over time, reports BusinessDay<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The tax was first propositioned in former finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s 2016 budget speech, with government proposing that these drinks be\u00a0taxed at a rate of 2.29 cents\u00a0per gram of sugar, with the idea that drinks with large amounts of added sugar will be taxed more.<\/p>\n Drinks which contain natural sugars \u2013 like unsweetened milk and 100% fruit juice \u2013 would not be taxed, while sugar-sweetened drinks where the sugar content is not disclosed on the packaging would be taxed at a fixed sugar level of 50 grams per 330 ml.<\/p>\n The proposal was later reportedly changed to\u00a0look at both\u00a0intrinsic and added sugars when calculating the tax. Treasury had also proposed a new threshold that would make the first 4g of sugar per 100ml beverage exempt from the sugar tax.<\/p>\n Momoniat said the problems facing the sugar industry pre-existed the introduction of the health promotion levy, with ANC MP Derek Hanekom adding that the levy proposal might act as a welcome catalyst to tackle these problems.<\/p>\n However, businesses and unions say that they are still concerned about the effect of the new tax on jobs in the sector.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been one of the most extensive public consultations on a bill,\u201d said Cosatu’s Matthew Parks to News24<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to collapse government\u2019s health. Not a single Cosatu member does not have a family with diabetes, cancer and so on. But we are talking of unemployment of 36% to 38%. We are concerned with job losses.\u201d<\/p>\nFears of job losses<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n