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pokoko on 24 June 2017
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Teeqoz said:
pokoko said:

It's not because there are people who believe that a sugar tax, for instance, is to combat obesity.  That's an excuse to tax.  The problem with local taxes in particular, is that they do a poor job of stopping something because it's relatively easy for many people to go outside the district.  Therefore the only major benefit is tax revenue.  That's why I said it and it's certainly isn't a silly point. 

Do you seriously think it has nothing to do with being an attempt to combat obesity? Why would they choose to tax this then, instead of some other random shit? Or just a general sales tax? Of course you adjust the general tax level to meet your expenses, but that doesn't mean the specific taxes that are imposed can't have other goals than just getting the extra money.

Furthermore, if you think it will have no effect, because people will just tax dodge instead of buying less soda, how does the distric get more tax revenue? I mean, no one will pay the tax because they will just go somewhere else to buy soda. So no extra tax revenue.

Stop making things up.  I said "poor job", not "no effect".  Surrounding areas are likely to see around a 20% increase in soda sales with an unknown spike in general sales.  And, yes, I think the politicians behind this are doing it for the tax revenue.  Otherwise, why not make the tax so high that no one would buy it at all?