Tax on mineral water and fruit juice to rise

The government is planning to increase the tax on soft drinks to raise an extra €30m for the treasury, RTL news says on Thursday.

The rise will mainly be applied to bottled water and fruit juice and will be the equivalent of a 15% price rise, the broadcaster says. It bases its claims on leaked documents which are due to be published later this month.

RTL says the aim appears to be to bring the tax on water and fruit juice into line with the higher tax already paid on fizzy drinks such as cola and lemonade.

Raymong Gianotten, a spokesman for the soft drinks manufacturers’ organisation, is furious about the rise. ‘This is a simple tax increase without any justification apart from to fill a gap in the budget,’ he said.

The government is increasing some taxes to compensate the treasury for an increase in the size of tax free gifts. Parents are to be allowed to give their children up to €100,000 tax free, which will cost the treasury €90m a year.