Zuckersteuer: Klingbeil will doch keine Steuer auf Zero-Getränke

Berlin - Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has firmly ruled out imposing a tax on sugar-free beverages. "I will not do it. It will not happen," he declared on Instagram. Klingbeil dismissed the notion of a "tax on sugar-free beverages" as nonsensical. A paper from his ministry, proposed a tax on zero and light drinks, beer mix drinks, oat milk drinks, and instant coffee, alongside sugary and sweetened drinks and granular products containing sugar or sweeteners.

This includes beverages "with sugar and/or sweeteners" as well as "sweetened with sugar or sweetening agents granules." Exempt from this tax would be 100-percent fruit juices and pure milk. The Handelsblatt newspaper had also reported on this. Klingbeil explained that experts from the involved ministries discuss various ideas controversially when making political decisions.

"Now, such a working paper has emerged in the media. It is neither politically united nor decided in the coalition," he said. His team, however, must discuss internally and can propose ideas that may not be implemented. "If every internal consideration is treated like a political decision, this openness becomes more difficult, and in the end, politics is not better," stressed Klingbeil.