On 30 September 2021 the UK government published the latest statistics on revenue collected from the soft drinks industry levy (SDIL). The UK introduced the SDIL in April 2018 after public consultation with the industry and other interested parties. The levy is charged on producers and importers of soft drinks containing added sugar.

The standard rate of SDIL is 18p per litre, chargeable where the sugar content of the drink is at least 5g per 100 ml but less than 8g per 100ml. The higher rate of 24p per litre applies where the sugar content is at least 8g per 100 ml.

A business is required to register for the SDIL if it owns the brand of a drink that is liable to the levy; or produces liable drinks under another brand. A business must also register if it bottles or packages liable drinks for another business.

Produced, packaged or imported drinks become liable for SDIL if they have had sugar added during production, or if another substance containing sugar has been added, such as honey. The drinks must be packaged and ready to drink (with or without added water, ice or carbon dioxide). Drinks with content under 5g per 100 ml are not liable to the levy. Also, the levy does not apply to drinks where the alcohol content is more than 1.2% by volume.

Certain businesses are classified as small producers and are not required to register for the levy. A small producer is a business that produced less than one million litres of liable drinks in the past twelve months and will not produce more than one million litres in the next thirty days.

The provisional statistics for the year to 31 March 2021 indicate that the total receipts from the SDIL were GBP 301 million, and around 96% of the net liabilities to the levy were declared at the higher rate. The provisional statistics for April to September 2021 indicate that revenue collected in that period was GBP 152 million.

The levy was introduced to encourage producers to remove the added sugar, and to encourage the industry to move towards diet drinks and to reduce the portion sizes of drinks with high sugar content.

The collection and analysis of statistics of tax receipts is an important element in monitoring and assessing the impact of a tax, to ensure that it is still in line with the intentions of the government. In the case of the SDIL the stated aim of the tax is to encourage changes in producer and consumer behaviour that can lead to improvements in public health, and a full assessment of the impact of the tax would therefore need to take these behavioural effects into consideration.