Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2017
57. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the steps his Department and the Revenue Commissioners have taken in order to be prepared for the introduction of a sugar tax in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42433/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraFollowing the announcement in Budget 2017 of the introduction of a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks in April 2018, a public consultation was opened until 3 January this year. The consultation invited interested stakeholders to make submissions in relation to the design, scope and practical implementation issues of the tax. Thirty submissions were received, the majority of which came from the health sector and soft drinks industry. These informed the development of the tax.
To further assist with the development of the tax, an implementation team composed of officials from Revenue and my Department was established together with a steering committee with representatives from Revenue, Department of Health and my Department.
Extensive stakeholder engagement took place throughout the process to take into account industry views on the design of the tax. This included site visits to manufacturing plants, face-to-face meetings at a variety of levels, and a number of technical consultations concerning specifics of the tax. A channel of communication with industry remains open in relation to technical implementation matters.
Engagement with the European Commission was established to ensure compatibility of the tax, when implemented, with EU State aid law. Similarly, discussions have taken place on a variety of policy and implementation issues with the UK public authorities, the Treasury and HMRC, as the UK will also introduce a similar tax commencing in April 2018. Again, this channel remains open.
As well as being engaged with the above, Revenue has carried out the following preparatory steps for the introduction of a Sugar Sweetened Drink, SSD, tax:
- Engagement with the State Laboratory and Food Safety Authority of Ireland on product classification and labelling issues relating to the identification of products liable to the proposed tax;
- Development of draft legislative provisions that would be required to support the proposed tax;
- Development of proposals on Revenue IT infrastructure, payments processing and other tax administration, accounting and collection issues relating to the proposed tax.
