Germany's coalition reportedly agrees on watered-down sugar tax from July 2027
The levy on sugary drinks will start six months later than planned and with only two tiers, Bild reports. Finance Minister Klingbeil is said to have yielded to conservative pressure.
Archive image · Photo: Michael Lucan / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
Germany's governing conservatives and Social Democrats have reached a compromise in their dispute over a planned sugar tax, the Bild newspaper reported. The levy on sugary drinks would take effect on July 1, 2027, about six months later than originally planned. The deal has not been officially confirmed; the government had recently said the ministries involved were "in good talks."
According to the report, the tax will have two tiers: 26 cents per liter for drinks with at least 4.5 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters and 32 cents from 7 grams. A third tier of 38 cents for especially sweet drinks was reportedly dropped. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, a Social Democrat, is said to have given ground under pressure from the conservative bloc, which wanted a two-tier model recommended by an expert commission.
Smaller producers would be spared, with the tax applying only above an annual output of 70,000 liters; raising that threshold to up to one million liters is to be examined with the European Commission. Large beverage companies would be fully affected, and consumers could face higher prices, the report said. The tax is part of plans to reform statutory health insurance. Earlier this month, the chancellery halted a first draft from the finance ministry.