THE TAXATION OF SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGES: EXPERIENCE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR UKRAINE

Abstract

The sugary drinks are considered to be harmful to health, excessive consumption of which contributes to the appearance of dangerous diseases. The number of countries is increasing every year in the world trying to solve the problem of morbidity of the population with the help of fiscal measures, introducing taxes on harmful food products and drinks. The article is dedicated to the peculiarities of taxation with a special tax on sweet drinks in such countries as: the Republic of Poland, Hungary, France, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, etc. Revenues from sugar-sweetened beverage taxes have been found to be used to fund important health programs or specific health-related educational or community goals. The need has been substantiated to study and implement the positive experience of the EU countries regarding the excise tax on drinks with a high content of sugar, caffeine and artificial sweeteners. The excise taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages has a huge potential for our state due to the ability to increase tax revenues while simultaneously reducing the volume of consumption of such beverages. The taxes on sweet drinks can change the behavior of consumers, ensure the filling of the budget from their administration, and also stimulate the production of more useful products. A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages can become for Ukraine an important and effective tool of fiscal and state policy in the field of health care. The introduction of excise taxation of sugar-sweetened beverages in Ukraine requires the involvement in the discussion of both state institutions and the public, representatives of various organizations and institutions with the creation of working groups and the cooperation of economic experts, nutritionists, representatives of parent organizations, etc. A prerequisite for the successful implementation of such tax in our country should be a proper scientific justification, sociological research and consultative negotiations with the stakeholders, as well as a thorough analysis of the foreign experience of the EU countries.