The tax Mexico would add to sugary beverages would be at the retail level, meaning it would be included in the fee when soda is purchased in a store or at a movie theater.
It would be in addition to the already-present 16 percent sales tax Mexico places on goods, and would be on any product with concentrated flavors or syrups as well as bottled beverages.
The goal is to bring about awareness to how sugar affects the body and prevent a number of deaths related to diabetes. Currently, Mexico sees approximately 70,000 annual deaths related to diabetes alone.
Not everyone is convinced Mexico’s sugary drink tax will do much good, however. According to the Mexican Association of Soda Makers, the tax would be a tough blow for the more than 118 million Mexican people living in poverty (45 percent of the population), and would only help reduce obesity by a projected 1.1 percent.
Those in poverty are often those who need the most help curbing obesity, counter experts who support Mexico’s sugary drink tax. Because daily habits are hard to change, some people need an incentive, and sometimes that incentive has to be money.
“The same people who are malnourished are the ones who are becoming obese,” Abelardo Avila, a physician with Mexico’s National Nutrition Institute, told Global Post. “In the poor classes we have obese parents and malnourished children. The worst thing is the children are becoming programmed for obesity. It’s a very serious epidemic.”
引用來源:
http://voxxi.com/2013/09/13/mexico-s-sugary-drink-tax-obesity/
------------------------------------
後記:
關於全球健康稅
最近墨西哥政府希望對甜性飲料課健康稅，以便提升國人健康。其實不只是墨西哥，包括前陣子美國的紐約出現推動禁止銷售大杯（470毫升）含糖飲料政策，限制餐廳販售反式脂肪；匈牙利對起司、含鹽、含糖等產品課健康稅 ; 西班牙提高煙稅、酒稅；台灣提高煙稅等等，都可以看出許多國家想要透過課稅的方式，讓民眾可以因此注重自己的健康，同時也可以增加國庫稅收，算是一舉兩得。
不過，對於這樣的政策，全球出現了兩種不同的看法，一方覺得政府管太多，民眾想吃什麼就吃什麼，而且認為這樣的課稅效果不大；另一方則是認為，全體人民納稅補貼這麼多的健康福利 (例: 健保 )，就有權利對有害身體健康的產品或行為做出限制。
其實不管如何，這些政策的出發點都是好的，就是希望大眾更健康。特別是對已身受癌症、糖尿病、高血壓、心血管疾病、中風、痛風、洗腎之苦的病患而言，更能體會「早之如此」的痛，因此即使不課稅，也會自發性避開不健康食物，開始主動食用健康的食物 (註: 是食物不是食品 )，例如：喝白開水、豆漿、無糖飲料，吃五穀飯、有機蔬菜、水果等等，而這種風氣也在最近蔚為風潮。有些廠商已經感受到消費者改變飲食的潮流，於是順從消費者的意願做出產品的調整。
只能說這年頭健康已經不是個人的事了，因為國家課了每個人的錢，補助了大筆的健康福利 (例: 健保 )，自然希望人民可以健健康康，才能避免未來投入更多的經費。雖然課稅是讓人反感的，但目的是一種「早之如此」的善意提醒，而這樣的情況在未來全球將會越來越普遍。
Jill
相關閱讀: 兩稅合一 & 服貿協議
http://jill9050.pixnet.net/blog/post/2748823
相關閱讀: 一夫一妻制 vs 一人一房制
http://jill9050.pixnet.net/blog/post/7878628
相關閱讀: 家的重新定義 = 幸福無限延伸
http://jill9050.pixnet.net/blog/post/25867792
相關閱讀: 生越多領越多 vs 生越多債越多
http://jill9050.pixnet.net/blog/post/2746501
留言列表
