Implementation of a financial policy for health through a sugar-sweetened beverages tax (levy on foodstuffs) in Poland
Abstract
The January 1, 2021, as a result of an amendment to the Public Health Act of 11 September 2015, a levy on food substances, which de facto consists of a sugar-sweetened beverages tax and a tax on drinks containing taurine and caffeine, was introduced in Poland, following the example of dozens of other countries. In the justification of the Act introducing the new public levy, it was indicated that “the primary objective of the bill is to use financial policy as a tool to promote pro-health consumer choices”. With references to this, the aim of the article was to establish the objectives that the sugar-sweetened beverages tax should pursue in order to be an instrument of sound financial policy for health. Content analysis and the dogmatic method were used as research methods. The article concludes that the sugar-sweetened-beverages tax should pursue two complementary objectives, i.e. the objective of motivating a change in harmful behaviour (consumption of sweetened beverages) and the fiscal objective of raising public funds specifically to combat obesity and the diseases caused by it.
Keywords:
financial law, sugar levy, sugar tax, sugar addiction, universality principle, National Health FundReferences
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