350% Soda Tax Hike Fizzles
Another taxpayer-funded study is telling us we need higher taxes on soda. No thanks.
It’s no secret that taxpayers are funding studies that in essence call for higher taxes on the products we consume every day. We’ve told you how the University of Illinois at Chicago received $1 million in stimulus funds to study higher “fat taxes.”
Along those same lines, a new study (funded in part by the federal government, a.k.a. taxpayers) finds that soda taxes need to be really, really, really high in order to impact consumption and obesity. According to the AP:
Small taxes on soda do little to reduce soft drink consumption or prevent childhood obesity, but larger levies probably would, according to new research.
The study is being released as a recent wave of proposals would raise soda taxes or create new ones on sugared beverages. But they’ll have to be a lot steeper than current taxes, which are generally 4 percent or less, said Roland Sturm, lead author of the new research.
Just how high do soda taxes need to go? My emphasis in bold:
Sturm and his colleagues used information from a 2004 national survey of about 7,300 fifth-graders. The researchers looked at how the children’s height and weight had changed over the previous two years and how often the kids said they drank soda and sports drinks. The researchers also reviewed taxes on carbonated drinks that were in effect in 2004.
Roughly two-thirds of the children lived in states that had a tax on soda greater than on other food items. The highest was 7 cents tax on each dollar’s worth of soda. The average was about 4 cents.
They found the taxes made no real difference on overall soda consumption or on obesity for kids overall. They did have a small effect on certain children – especially those from families with an annual income of $25,000 or less. Those kids – who drank about seven cans of soda a week, on average – drank one less can because of the taxes, Sturm said.
However, if the taxes were more like 18 cents on the dollar, Sturm calculated it would make a significant difference.
Taking the soda tax from 4 cents on the dollar to 18 cents is a 350 percent increase. Are you willing to swallow this naked revenue grab? I’m not.