Sugar-Sweetened Beverages To Be Taxed N10 Per Litre, Says FG
In order to reduce non-communicable diseases, President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime has said that it has implemented a taxation of N10 per litre on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
On Thursday, Dennis Ituma, the chief superintendent of customs at the department of excise, free trade zone and industrial incentives, had announced this during an interactive session at a meeting in Abuja.
The meeting had been organised by the National Action on Sugar Reduction to propose suggestions on ways to implement tax and other interventions so as to reduce SSBs consumption in the country.
According to Mr. Ituma, customs had started taxing all companies that produce SSBs from the 1st of June.
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“The N10 per litre of sugar-sweetened beverages has been implemented on June 1, by July 21, all excise duties must have been collected and paid into the federation account. It should interest you that taxation on SSBs was a policy of the federal government in 1984 but was stopped in January 2009. Previously both SSBs, alcoholic drinks and tobacco were all taxed until 2009 when SSBs were removed from taxable beverages. Only alcoholic drinks and tobacco generate N414 billion. SSBs will further increase the revenue generated from drinks.”
Regarding how customs would ensure that the companies were properly taxed, Mr. Ituma stated that the service had designated resident customs officers to all factories producing SSBs to take the measurements of all daily productions.
The taxation of N10 per litre tax on SSBs had been approved by Mr. Buhari’s regime last December.
Mr. Las Eze, a public health physician, had called for a well defined policy framework that would support the direct transfer of any money that accrues from this tax to health interventions.
