The blowback from the Cook County, Illinois (USA) "sweetened beverage tax" is rather insane.
Have you missed all the hubbub? Well, let's recap what's going on:
- Illinois is broke.
- Chicago is broke.
- Cook County, which is the county that encompasses Chicago and a whole host of other suburbs, is also broke.
- All of these entities are trying to grab money from wherever they can, and that means they'll tax everything that moves.
Enter...the Beverage Tax
Cook County decided that it would tax all sweetened beverages. But the tax was so confusing that it was deemed unconstitutional by a judge; so it didn't get implemented on its original activation date of July 1.
Many court cases followed and here we are, in August, when the County eventually won, the stay of execution was lifted, and the tax went into effect.
But it's not THAT simple
The tax calls for one penny per ounce taxed on sweetened beverages. "Zero calorie" doesn't always get a break: artificial sweeteners aren't exempt here. Fruit juice doesn't get taxed if it's 100% juice.
LaCroix and other sparkling waters are exempt - since they don't have sweeteners. Unless they do have sweeteners. Then they're taxed.
We're From the Government, We're Here to Help
Scariest words ever right there: the County government claims that they're doing this for our own good - since we shouldn't be drinking sweetened beverages, and we should all lose weight.
But let's be honest here, the county is broke - they also claim that this tax will bring in $200 million a year in revenue.
In fact, they're suing the group that got the stay of execution - the Illinois Retail Merchants Association - for $17 million.
That's to cover the amount they didn't bring during the month they couldn't collect the tax.
To Answer The Question...
That drink in the photo is an Aquafina Sparkling. It has zero sweeteners. It is not subject to the tax.
Good thing: 8 cans of it, 12 ounces each, cost me $3, but it would have been $3.96 - a 32 percent tax rate.