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Research report

The Pros and Cons of Taxing Sweetened Beverages Based on Sugar Content

Norton Francis, Donald Marron, Kim S. Rueben
December 12, 2016
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Abstract

Governments are starting to use taxes to discourage consumption of sugary drinks. Those taxes typically scale with drink volume. But sugar content varies widely. This report analyses the potential benefits and costs of scaling these taxes to sugar content. Taxes based on sugar content reduce consumption more effectively than taxes on volume. They also encourage businesses to reduce sugar in their products. Broad-based volume or sales taxes on all soft drinks, however, raise revenue more efficiently. Policymakers thus face trade-offs between using these taxes to raise revenue and to discourage sugar consumption.

Research Area

Business Taxes Tax administration (business) State and Local Issues State and local taxes
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Meet the Experts

  • Norton Francis
    Senior Research Associate
  • Donald Marron
    Institute Fellow
  • Kim S. Rueben
    Sol Price Fellow
Research report

New Evidence on The Effect of The TCJA On the Housing Market

Robert McClelland, Livia Mucciolo, Safia Sayed
March 30, 2022
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