Sugar Taxes on Drinks 2026–2028: A Calendar for Drink Brands, Market by Market

Status checked 22 October 2026. These rules change, and several markets below are drafts. The calendar is a reading aid for a brief, not tax advice. Your importer or tax adviser confirms the rule for the country of sale before a formula or a label is fixed.

FIZZPHARMA makes private label products in the European Union. They are effervescent tablets in tubes, drink cubes sealed one by one in blisters, powder sachets, electrolyte formulas and table-top sweeteners. This calendar covers the markets that move next and how each one treats a powder, a tablet or a cube. The Saudi Arabian, Emirati and South African rules are covered in depth in sugar tax on drinks in the Gulf and South Africa.

What is the drink sugar tax calendar for 2026 to 2028, by market?

Four places have a dated change after 2026: Italy, Brazil and Germany (a proposal) in 2027, and the UK in 2028. Poland and Nigeria have amendments in progress without a date. The table gives every place in the research with the rate in force and the source label behind it.

How to read the labels:

• F means the official text was opened on 22 October 2026.
• F* means an official page seen on 22 October 2026 only through a search-engine summary. The figure is what that summary reports.
• S means an adviser, a news outlet or a state news agency. The figure is what the named source reports.

"Not stated" means not stated in the published text read. Your importer confirms the point.

Dates after 2026 are in the next section. Thresholds, the basis for a powder and the treatment of sweeteners follow in three tables of their own.

Which markets change their drink sugar tax in 2027 and 2028?

Italy, Brazil and Germany carry the 2027 dates, and the UK carries the only 2028 date with a published rule. Poland and Nigeria have amendments in progress with no date, and France indexes its tariff every 1 January.

Germany. On 14 October 2026 the Federal Cabinet adopted a drafting aid (Formulierungshilfe) for the governing parties' parliamentary groups. It is a proposal for a levy from 1 July 2027. The Bundestag still has to pass it; it is not law. The health-insurance contribution law the Bundestag passed on 10 July 2026 (GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz) counts on a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to fund part of its 2027 budget. The tax itself comes from a separate act. In June 2026 the government told the Bundestag it would introduce the levy in a later legislative procedure. According to DATEV's reprint of the Finance Ministry release, the levy is €0.26 per litre for 5 g to under 8 g of total sugar per 100 ml. It is €0.32 per litre for 8 g or more. It is charged to the producer or wholesaler. The revenue forecast is €690 million for 2027 and €925 million for 2028. PwC reports that milk, oat and rice drinks and pure juices are exempt. It reports that producers up to 70,000 litres a year are exempt. It also reports that relief up to 1 million litres needs EU state-aid approval.

Italy. The tax has never applied. Law 199/2025 moved its start to 1 January 2027. The customs and monopolies agency confirmed it in a notice of 9 January 2026. The Italian press (money.it, 29 September 2026) expects the year-end budget to postpone it again. No budget text was found. Treat 1 January 2027 as a date that can move.

United Kingdom. The policy paper of 13 July 2026 states no 2028 rates and does not mention powders. So whether a drink sold as a powder stays outside the levy after 2028 is not stated in the published text. Your importer confirms it.

Brazil. The Brazilian trade press (NetCPA, CRC-SP) reports a start on 1 January 2027 under Complementary Law 214/2025. The rate is expected by provisional measure in September 2026. No confirmation that the measure was issued was found.

Poland. The draft would add "concentrated drinks other than syrups" and dietary supplements in drink form, except unit packs up to 200 ml. The Ministry of Finance's reply gives no effective date. It does not say the draft has been adopted. It does not mention powders or tablets. One press article (Podatnik.info) reports powders at PLN 3 per litre or kg. The ministry letter does not confirm it.

Is a powder, tablet or cube taxed as sold or as prepared?

Catalonia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Mexico work from the drink as prepared. Italy works from the kilograms of product as sold. The UK leaves a drink sold as a powder outside its levy. The last column shows how firmly each rule is sourced.

No source read names an effervescent tablet or a drink cube. Whether an authority treats a tablet like a powder, a concentrate or something else is not stated in the published text. Your importer confirms the classification and the basis in writing.

Where the basis is the prepared drink, the dilution printed on the pack, the specification and the tax filing must show the same volume. So the serving belongs in the brief, not on a line left to the printer. Where the basis is the product as sold, as in Italy, the weight of the sweetening content per kilogram is the figure that counts.

Is a sweetener-only drink taxed?

A sweetener-only drink is listed at zero in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. It is exempt in the German proposal and in Catalonia. It is taxed in Mexico, Italy, France and, according to Podatnik.info, Poland. The tier belongs to the finished product in the market where it is sold. Your importer confirms it.

The Gulf article covers the Gulf wording on sweeteners. A tax tier is also not a label claim: wording about sugar on a pack follows Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and is checked separately by your importer.

What should a drink brand decide before it writes the brief?

Four things go into the brief before a formula is fixed. They are the sugar per 100 ml of the drink as prepared, the sweeteners, the serving on the label and the importer's written answers. Each one appears in the tables above.

1. Sugar per 100 ml of the drink as prepared. Write it as a number in grams. The same number stands on the specification, the label and the importer's file.
2. The sweeteners. Name every sweetener in the brief. Markets read a sweetener-only drink differently, as the table shows. The importer confirms the reading for each market of sale.
3. The serving and dilution on the label. In Catalonia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Mexico the prepared drink sets the tax, so the volume on the pack belongs in the brief.
4. The importer's written answers. Ask for the tax basis (as sold, as prepared, per kilogram) and whether tablets and cubes are covered. Ask how a sweetener-only formula is treated. Ask for the rate in force and the start date.

How does FIZZPHARMA work with a brief that carries a tax target?

FIZZPHARMA takes the sugar target, the sweeteners and the serving into the brief for the format you choose:

• effervescent tablets in a tube of 20 tablets of 4 g
• drink cubes, each sealed in its own blister
• powder sachets of 4–12 g
• electrolyte formulas
• table-top sweeteners

The reply comes within 24 hours, Monday to Friday, with the minimum and the production time for your format.

Tablets and sachets are produced from 4 weeks, with transport and customs on top. A sample comes before the order. FIZZPHARMA designs the label with you or checks the artwork you bring, and prints it. Every batch ships with a Certificate of Analysis and a specification, the documents your importer files. Your importer confirms the tax treatment for the country of sale. The order of work for every format is on how a private label order works.

Frequently asked questions

Read more

• Saudi Arabia, the UAE and South Africa in depth: sugar tax on drinks in the Gulf and South Africa
• Registration, label and tax guides for each market, together: knowledge hub
• Cubes sealed one by one: private label drink cubes
• Tablets in a tube of 20 × 4 g: effervescent tablets in tubes
• Sachets of 4–12 g: powder sachets for private label
• Table-top sweeteners and their label rules: table-top sweeteners under your brand
• Importer guides: Gulf and North Africa, West Africa, Latin America
• Units and lead times: minimum order and lead time
• Batch papers: certificates and CoA

Send the format, the country of sale, the sugar target and the sweeteners through the contact page; FIZZPHARMA replies within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.