Soda Tax Has Philadelphians Hot Under the Collar
The New Year is only ten days old, but some Philadelphians are convinced that 2017 is the worst thing ever. And it’s all due to the infamous soda tax. The tax, passed last June by the City Council and Mayor Jim Kenney and made effective January 1st, is not just on soda, for one thing. It’s on all sweetened beverages, including sports drinks, sweet teas, flavored waters with sweetener, certain milks, and juices that are below 50% real fruit juice. Thanks to the specifics of the law, even diet sodas fall under the soda tax despite not being sugar-free.
The soda tax has some Philadelphia residents completely incensed.
The tax imposes a levy of 1.5 cents per ounce on all qualifying beverages, from the fountain drink you pick up at Wawa to the 12-pack of Propel that famously appeared on Twitter at almost twice its 2016 going price due to the new tax. Higher-volume beverages carry a larger tax. What this means, in essence, as Time magazine pointed out, that in some cases beer can be cheaper than soda or flavored water. “Before sales taxes, 12 Propels is $5.99 plus $3.04 in soda taxes for a total of $9.03 (and that’s when it’s on sale for $1 less than the $6.99 standard). The 12 Icehouses are $7.99, beer tax included,” the Tax Foundation explained in a quote from the magazine’s Money section.
Shoppers have been less than enthused to see the cost of their drinks go up by 25-50%, news reports agree. Local cashiers at convenience and grocery stores are feeling the stress, complaining that they get yelled at all day by irate customers experiencing sticker shock at the register. Other residents of the City of Brotherly Love have taken to social media to vent their spleen, complete with all sorts of colorful invectives for Mayor Kenney and the City Council.
Of course, residents have options if they don’t want to pay the tax. They can drive outside of city or state limits to get their beverages, voting with their wallets so to speak. And then there’s the suggestion of a Philadelphia Magazine contributor: Don’t Like the Soda Tax? Drink Water!
