First turnaround for the economic decree and seventh postponement for the sugar tax
Among the measures included in the measure is the extension from 1 July 2025 to 1 January 2026 of the effective date of the tax on the consumption of sweetened beverages (so-called 'Sugar Tax')
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Key points
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After the Senate approved the government's confidence question on the Economics Decree, the measure passed to the House for the final go-ahead. Among the measures included in the measure, which came into force on 1 July and must be converted into law by 29 August, is the postponement from 1 July 2025 to 1 January 2026 of the effective date of the tax on the consumption of sweetened beverages (the so-called 'Sugar Tax'), as was also envisaged by the Council of Ministers on 20 June. This is the seventh postponement of the entry into force of the tax.
Extensions
.The last postponement, to 1 July 2025, was provided by Decree-Law 39 of 2024. The 2020 Relaunch Decree had first postponed the entry into force of the sugar tax to 1 January 2021. The Budget Law 2021 had then postponed the entry into force of the tax to 1 January 2022. This date was further postponed to 1 January 2023 by Budget Law 2022. Budget Law 2023 (Article 1, paragraph 64, Law No. 197 of 2022) postponed the effective date of the aforementioned tax from 1 January 2023 to 1 January 2024. This deadline was subsequently postponed to 1 July 2024 by Budget Law 2024 (Article 1, paragraph 44, Law No. 213 of 2023). Thus, as mentioned, 1 July 2025. And now, with the Economy Decree that still has to get the final OK from the Chamber of Deputies, 1 January 2026.
What is the Sugar tax
The tax on the consumption of sweetened beverages, known as Sugar Tax, was established and regulated by Budget Law 2020 (Article 1, paragraphs 661-676, Law No. 160 of 2019). It is a tax that affects the consumption of sweetened soft drinks at the rate of €10 per hectolitre in the case of finished products and €0.25 per kg in the case of products prepared for use after dilution.
L’obiettivo
The measure, introduced with the 2020 Budget law of Giuseppe Conte's government, was created with the aim of discouraging sugar consumption and promoting healthier eating habits - in line with what has already been done in other European and world countries such as France, Spain, the UK and Hungary, Mexico, Colombia and some cities in the United States. So far, it has not been possible to eliminate it completely because it would be necessary to find stable cover for giving up the estimated revenue. The postponement entails costs estimated at EUR 142 million for 2025, EUR 12.7 million for 2027 and EUR 1 million for 2028.
