From April 1, 2025, the excise tax in Uzbekistan may be extended to all non-alcoholic beverages containing sugar. This is envisaged in the draft Uzbekistan Budget for 2025-2027.
500-soum per liter excise tax is proposed to be established on non-carbonated sweet teas, fruit juices, compotes produced industrially, and other non-carbonated sweet drinks containing sugar (fruit drinks, lemonades, kvass).
The World Health Organization's 2023 "International report on the taxation of beverages containing sugar and sweeteners" recommends applying an excise tax to all drinks with added sugar and sweeteners.
The excise tax will not be applied to juices made from fruits and vegetables that have natural sugars (contain fructose, glucose) and do not contain added sugar. Countries such as Croatia, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE have already introduced an excise tax on juices with added sweeteners (sugar).
Today, Uzbekistan produces 18 types of juices of 6 brands, containing an average of 90 g of sugar per liter, as well as 4 types of iced tea, which contain an average of 73 g of sugar per liter, follows from the document.
From April 1, it is proposed to reduce the excise tax on carbonated and non-carbonated drinks containing sweeteners or flavoring agents from the current 500 to 300 soums per liter. We are talking about diet carbonated drinks, where a sugar substitute is used instead of sugar.
It is expected that the reduction in the tax rate will reduce the share of excise tax in the retail price per liter from 5% to 3%.
The excise tax on energy and tonic drinks, adopted in April of this year, will remain at 2,000 soums per 1 liter.
Deputy Economy Minister Akhadbek Khaidarov, answering the question of why only sweet drinks are subject to excise tax, and not all sugar-containing products, said that sodas and energy drinks are more affordable for consumers.
