Germany considers VAT increase on candy and soda

Obtain double mentality change through wallet

The German parliament hopes to battle obesity with this new measure: consumers will (hopefully) buy fewer quantities of candy and soda, while manufacturers will (hopefully) lower their products’ sugar levels. “If I reach into people’s wallets, I can change something“, Elvira Dobrinski-Weiss of the socialist SPD party said. “Personally, I would like a general advertising ban on sweets, like they have in Scandinavia.” That will probably not happen, though.

There are doubts that the VAT increase will actually help: Hungary and Denmark have already tried to limit the country’s fat consumption with a so-called fat tax, but “that failed twice”, Georg Wittich of the University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Niederrhein said. The professor believes the government should focus more on prevention and awareness.