The Ministry of Finance will not make life sweeter for Poles. He plans to raise the sugar levy

The Ministry of Finance is working on a new bill regarding the increase in the sugar levy – according to information published on the website of the Prime Minister's office. Identical provisions on the sugar levy increase are included in another project, which also provides for an increase in excise duty on alcohol.

On Friday, the list of legislative and program works of the Council of Ministers published information on the work carried out by the Ministry of Finance on the draft amendment to the Act amending the Act on Public Health and the Act on Personal Income Tax.

The entry about the project shows that the Ministry of Finance proposes an increase in the so-called sugar levy. This concerns an increase in the fixed fee for the content of sugars or sweeteners in a drink – from PLN 0.50 to PLN 0.70 – for the content of sugars in an amount equal to or less than 5 g in 100 ml of the drink or for the content of at least one of the sweeteners in any amount and a variable fee from PLN 0.05 to PLN 0.10 – for each gram of sugars above 5 g in 100 ml of the drink. The maximum fee will be PLN 1.8 per liter of drink (currently PLN 1.2).

It is also proposed increasing the fixed fee for caffeine or taurine content, which occurs, among others, in energy drinks, from PLN 0.10 to PLN 1.00.

Besides, in the project It is proposed to increase the tax on winnings in competitions, games and betting or prizes related to bonus sales from 10%. up to 15 percent

The same provisions are included in the draft act amending the Excise Duty Act and certain other acts. The project also provides for an increase in excise duty on alcohol. The Ministry of Finance wants to increase the tax rate by 15%. in 2026 and by 10 percent in 2027 (currently, the Excise Duty Act provides for increases of 5% each year). The project is still at the legislative stage; According to information from the Government Legislation Center, it was discussed by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers.

At the end of August, the head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, Zbigniew Bogucki, announced that the president would not consent to the proposed increase in excise duty on alcohol, Bogucki said. – If the president said that he would not sign a bill increasing taxes, he would not sign such a bill. And that's it. We don't know the details of this project, because maybe there is an increase somewhere and a lowering somewhere. Today we are talking about it, said Bogucki.

According to the OSR of the draft amendment to the Act amending the Excise Duty Act and certain other acts, increase in excise duty on alcohol, sugar levy and tax on winnings, the budget in 2026 was to obtain over PLN 2.1 billion from this source, and within 10 years – nearly PLN 30 billion. (PAP)

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