Taxes on Soft drinks worry small traders

Small business owners are expectant to the list of sweetened products to be taxed more heavily, through a draft amendment.

Carlos Gambarroti, administrator of the Economarket minimarket in downtown Guayaquil, said that soft drinks sales will fall if taxes go up. “We’ve had a drop since the traffic light tag was imposed on sodas,” he said.

Gambarrotti said that before they the first labels with ‘traffic lights’ went into effect in soft drinks (in November 2014) he used to sell more than 10 bottles of 3 liters a day whereas now he only sells 5. “The three-liter bottle cost $ 1.50 and it now costs 2.50 and if its cost is further increased no one will buy these drinks,” he said.

Source: http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/impuesto-gaseosas-comerciantes-industria.html