As announced in Budget 2018, a Sugar Sweetened Drinks Tax (SSDT) is to apply to the first supply in the State of sugar sweetened drinks. Primary legislation for the SSDT was included in the Finance Act 2017 and is subject to a commencement order.
The commencement of the SSDT is subject to approval from the European Commission on State aid grounds. In the first instance, Ireland submitted a notification under the Technical Standards Directive (2015/1335) which informed the European Commission and other Member States of the introduction of the SSDT. The obligatory 3 month standstill period has expired and that process is completed. Following a pre-notification process, a formal notification of our intention to introduce the SSDT was submitted to the European Commission under article 107 (3)(c) of the TFEU, and we are awaiting approval.
The expected commencement date for the SSDT is 6th April 2018, which coincides with the introduction of a similar tax being introduced in the UK on that date.
In addition, I am advised by Revenue that the following further preparatory steps for the introduction of the tax have been made:
- Detailed discussions have taken place with the soft drinks industry on practical issues in relation to implementation of the tax;
- Draft guidance for the industry on the operation of the tax was provided to interested parties and tax advisors in January;
- Systems development work on Revenue IT infrastructure, payments processing and other tax administration, accounting and collection processes are underway and will be completed in time for the introduction of the tax.
