In a 4-2 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the validity of the Philadelphia soda tax, rejecting a major challenge brought by the beverage and food merchant industries. Philadelphia passed the new tax back in 2016 assessing distributors and dealers 1.5 cents per ounce on sugary beverages. The city cleverly drafted the tax to apply…
Read More »The constitutionality of the controversial Philadelphia soda tax was argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Harrisburg earlier this week. The tax became effective almost a year and a half ago, but was immediately challenged by the beverage industry. In the absence of an injunction while the challenge made its way through the courts, Philadelphia…
Read More »There seems to be a lot more “he said, she said” over the Philadelphia soda tax and how much that money grab is affecting small businesses in the city. Last month, the Controller criticized the administration for not spending the funds as originally intended but rather salting most of it away (74% or $63 million…
Read More »The City of Brotherly Love passed a special tax on sugary beverages back in June of 2016 with many promises from Mayor Jim Kenney about the money the levy would generate without hurting Philadelphia businesses. It now seems he was wrong on both counts! We’ve advised in the past how the money the tax has…
Read More »The Cook County soda tax is going the way of 1917 national predecessor, repealed! The effort first got its real momentum a few weeks ago and then a budget deal was reached last week that cut the tax from the county budget. Tuesday, the County Finance Committee endorsed the repeal effort by a vote of…
Read More »We’ll start with the disappointing revenue numbers in Philadelphia generated by the City’s new soda tax for the month of August. The tax, which was projected to generate enough money to fund pre-K educational programs, community schools as well as rebuilding a number of the public facilities in the city missed its target again as…
Read More »There was more info coming out this past week on the Philadelphia soda tax and the havoc it is reaping on the local economy in the City of Brotherly Love. The Tax Foundation released a detailed report one week ago on the Impact of the soda tax and how the tax was failing to achieve…
Read More »The appeal of the soda tax as a revenue cure-all may be fizzing out a bit based on the money the new tax levy is bringing in in the City of Brotherly Love. Philadelphia officials this week acknowledged that actual revenue from the 1.5 cents per ounce tax on sugary drinks came in at $6.9…
Read More »Despite the fact that revenues from the Philadelphia soda tax appear to have been overpromised and are now under-delivering, and the roll-out of the new soda tax in Cook County, Illinois was an unmitigated disaster, the idea continues to grow in popularity. This week, Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Revenue took testimony on a new…
Read More »A Pennsylvania Appeals court on Wednesday rejected a challenge brought by the beverage industry and a couple of consumers to the Philadelphia tax on sugary beverages. The lawsuit alleged that the soda tax violated a provision in the Pennsylvania state constitution that prohibits any duplication of the state sales and use tax, but the appeals…
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