In July, soft drink sales increased by 54.7 per cent and beer sales by 20.3 per cent compared with the same month last year. The abolition of cross-border trade in Sweden is considered the main reason.
– Never before has the state received greater tax revenues from beverages. On beer alone, the increase in sales leads to an increased income from alcohol tax of 318 million in June and July, compared with the same period last year. At the same time, the state’s revenue from soda tax has increased by 85 million, says director Erlend Vagnild Fuglum in the Brewery and Beverage Association.
– If you include VAT and other taxes, we estimate that the tax revenues from soft drinks and beer have increased by more than NOK 700 million in the summer months alone, he continues.
Fuglum asks the politicians to take action to move the trade home and points to Denmark. Figures from the Danish Ministry of Taxation show that the country has almost halved its cross-border trade with Germany since 2005, wrote TV 2 in February.
All border regions in Sweden are considered “red” except for Norbotten and Västerbotten, where border traders from Nordland mainly go.
–
