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In the end the sugar tax could slip again. After a weekend of open conflict within the government and the majority, this could be a point of failure to avoid the rupture of Forza Italia, on the barricades to prevent the tax on sugary drinks from coming into force as early as July. The solution could be to postpone the application of the tax to July 1, 2025 (it is more difficult for the date to be July 2026, the same as the entry into force of the plastic tax). In the first case it is necessary to find 68 million; in the second over 249. According to Fi, the resources can be recovered from the Fund for structural economic policy interventions. According to the league, the resources could be recovered by defunding some international missions. The negotiations between the Mef managed by the Northern League member Giancarlo Giorgetti and Forza Italia continue at this time.
How the soda tax works
According to the proposal contained in the amendment to the Superbonus decree, presented last week by the government, for the first two years, starting from next July, the levy on sweetened non-alcoholic drinks is 5 euros per hectoliter for finished products and 0, 13 euros per kilogram for products designed to be used after dilution. From 1 July 2026, however, there will be a return to the “full” measure initially envisaged by the 2020 budget (but which never came into force), i.e. 10 euros per hectoliter and 0.25 euros per kilogram respectively.
The hypotheses of an exemption for 2024
Among the hypotheses of the two different sub-amendments presented in the last hours by Forza Italia there is a “minimum” one which aims to postpone it by six months and there is a “maximum” one to reach until July 2026 and thus realign the debut of Plastic and sugar tax.
Assobibe: «Over 5 thousand jobs at risk»
The Superbonus decree is being examined by the Senate Finance Commission. The vote on the amendments is expected to begin today, with the aim of going to the Chamber as early as Wednesday afternoon. The Commission aims to do Assobibe has sent around seventy politicians, government representatives and journalists a timer counting down to the entry into force of the tax which would put “over 5 thousand jobs” at risk as well as increase the prices of soft drinks for consumers.
Tajani: we must demonstrate that we are not braggarts
«We must demonstrate that we are people who keep faith in what they have always said, not braggarts, braggarts – underlined Forza Italia leader Antonio Tajani at the opening of Forza Italia’s electoral campaign in EUR -. We will fight to ensure that the tax burden does not increase by one euro, whether it is called a sugar tax or a capital tax, there is no need for it. Be careful not to approve regulations that have a retroactive effect – he said in another passage – because the citizen must know that the State “remains faithful to what has been decided”.