Philadelphia’s soda tax got over a huge hurdle last night when City Council OK’d a 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax on beverages with both real and artificial sugar. A formal vote is coming next week, but last night’s move shows a deal’s been made.
So what’s that mean for your wallet, especially if you’re a frequent consumer of sodas, whether it’s a can of Mountain Dew a day or a Super Big Gulp of Diet Coke?
It’s hard to know for sure what the exact impact will be. This tax isn’t on the stores who sell these items, like the $2-per-pack cigarette tax is. It’s on distributors who may pass on the entire price of the tax, or may not. Because Philadelphia is the first major city in America to likely have a soda tax, we don’t exactly know how much will be passed on. (FWIW, Berkeley, Calif. is the only other city to enact a soda tax. There, distributors passed along about half.)
The worst case scenario for consumers is that distributors would pass along the entire tax. So we’ll calculate what that means for you based on the beverages you frequently buy.
Cans and small bottles
12 oz. can
Current cost: 99 cents at Wawa
New cost: $1.17
Drink one can of soda a day?
Current cost per year: $361.35
New cost per year: $427.05
16 oz. bottle
Current cost: $1.15 at Wawa
New cost: $1.39
Drink one bottle of soda a day?
Current cost per year: $419.75
New cost per year: $507.35
12-pack of cans
Current cost: On sale at Acme now is four 12-packs for $12
New cost: $20.64 for four 12-packs (An increase of $2.16 per 12-pack.)
12 oz. Red Bull
Current cost: On sale at Wawa for two for $5
New cost: $5.36 for two
32 oz. bottle of Gatorade
Current cost: On sale at Acme for 88 cents per bottle
New cost: $1.36 per bottle
Two-liter bottles of soda and gallons of tea
Two-liter bottle of soda
Current cost: $1.29 at Acme
New cost: $2.31
Gallon of sweetened iced tea
Current cost: $2.37 at Wal-Mart
New cost: $4.29
Fountain drinks
Sodas at 7-Eleven
20 oz. Gulp
Current cost: $1.19
New cost: $1.49
30 oz. Big Gulp
Current cost: $1.29
New cost: $1.74
Drink a Big Gulp every day?
Current cost for a year: $448.95
New cost for a year: $635.10
40 oz. Super Big Gulp
Current cost: $1.49
New cost: $2.49
50 oz. Double Gulp
Current cost: $1.79
New cost: $2.54
