Next year the “sugar tax” will disappear. But the red-green politicians want to replace it with a new variant.

FRP received approval to remove the New Year’s sugar and chocolate tax. Politicians in the Labor Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Socialist People’s Party want a new nutritionally justified sugar tax to be considered.

Chocolate and sweets will be cheaper next year. FRP can take credit, or blame, for that, depending on which eyes they see.

The reason is that the FRP in the budget negotiations managed to eliminate all the tax on chocolate and sugar products. According to government estimates, it would provide the state with revenue of just under NOK 1.5 billion in 2021. If the industry lowers prices in line with the tax relief, chocolate and confectionery will be cheaper accordingly.

But it hardly lasts long.

If there is a change of government next fall, there may be a proposal for a new sugar tax. The politicians of the Labor Party, the Socialist People’s Party and the Socialist People’s Party want it to be investigated. This means that it will hardly arrive before the 2023 budget.

Today’s rate was not exact

– The Labor Party wants a more purposeful sugar tax, that is, a reduced sugar content, says APS health policy spokesperson Ingvild Kjerkol. He adds that the party wants a tax that provides healthier goods and does not affect Norwegian jobs.

She believes that the tax that is now disappearing is not accurate enough.

– Work wants to see taxes that provide healthier goods. We think they should be cheaper than unhealthy, he says.

For this reason, the Labor Party has previously proposed changes to the food VAT for unhealthy goods.

– Does this mean that you will reintroduce a more specific tax if you come to power?

– Yes, we will investigate. But it would be wrong to say reintroduce, since the previous one was not the goal, he says.

The committee proposed a new variant

There has been a lot of noise and commotion surrounding today’s tax on chocolate and candy. The debate gained momentum after the tax was created in 2018. A committee was therefore asked to study a reorganization of excise duties on chocolate and sugary products and non-alcoholic beverages.

The purpose of the current tax has been to provide revenue to the state. The majority of the committee considering these fees suggested that it should be dropped and replaced with a health-based fee. They thought it should vary based on sugar content. Not so today.

The committee cautioned against the FRP proposal

The majority on the committee warned against what is happening now: that the tax was removed without replacing it with a new variant. They feared a higher intake of sugary foods.

These are arguments used by committee members to introduce a health-based sugar tax.

• A large number of Norwegians are overweight or obese
• A high intake of energy-rich, nutrient-poor snacks, as well as a high intake of sugary drinks, is one of the biggest health challenges in the Norwegian diet.
• We eat more sugar than recommended, and no less children and young people do this.
• Norway is among the countries in Europe with the highest consumption of chocolate.

Sps Kjersti finishes in positive

Aftenposten has asked the three red-green health politicians if they support a shakeup of the tax in accordance with the committee’s advice.

– I’m serious, replies Sps Kjersti Toppe.

She believes a health-related sugar tax should be investigated.

– I sincerely believe that we should have had such a design of the rates that the commission indicates. The public health challenges in Norway are increasing and we have large social inequalities in health. So the Storting should look at how we can make a healthy diet cheaper, he says.

A: It can help us be healthier

– SV will consider a new fee based on health. The government fee was poorly adjusted, says SV health policy spokesman Nicholas Wilkinson.

– Norwegians are increasingly fighting obesity. The food we eat is one of the main reasons. We think normal food should be cheaper, so we propose to cut VAT on food, but a health-based tax can help us be a little healthier, he says.

Eliminated in Sweden

When Frp took the initiative to eliminate the tax, it is because the tax was eliminated in Sweden. By removing it, Frp believes it can contribute to less cross-border trade. The party has not proposed to replace it with a new variant. Neither did the minority of the sample that evaluated the different excise duties in the area.

Today’s rate has been controversial for a number of reasons. This is because the tax has been different on roughly similar items, such as marzipan and crown cakes (fried marzipan).

This year, the tax on chocolate and confectionery is NOK 21.22 per. kilos of the taxable weight of the item.

The soft drink tax will be modified and reduced

The committee also proposed a reorganization of the tax on non-alcoholic beverages.

The majority of the committee believed that this tax should also be changed and varied depending on the sugar content.

In next year’s state budget, the government has followed this advice. The tax is reduced to drinks that are low in sugar or have only artificial sweeteners added.

That turn was maintained in the budget agreement with Frp. But the tax was reduced by around one billion crowns. Therefore, sodas with and without sugar are slightly cheaper than the government allows.