▁tax ▁on ▁sugar - s we eten ed ▁be ver ages , ▁a ▁study ▁published ▁in ▁the ▁British ▁Medical ▁Journal ▁on ▁ 3 1 ▁October ▁ 2 0 1 3 , ▁post ulated ▁that ▁a ▁ 2 0 % ▁tax ▁on ▁sugar - s we eten ed ▁be ver ages ▁would ▁reduce ▁ob es ity ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁Kingdom ▁rates ▁by ▁about ▁ 1 . 3 %, ▁and ▁concluded ▁that ▁tax ing ▁sugar - s we eten ed ▁be ver ages ▁was ▁" a ▁prom ising ▁population ▁measure ▁to ▁target ▁population ▁ob es ity , ▁particularly ▁among ▁younger ▁adult s ." ▁ ▁Est im ates ▁of ▁the ▁re venue ▁raised ▁were ▁reduced ▁to ▁£ 2 4 0 ▁million ▁per ▁an num ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 9 . ▁ ▁It ▁helped ▁to ▁boost ▁sales , ▁rather ▁than ▁d amp ening ▁performance , ▁according ▁to ▁Brit vic ’ s ▁ 2 0 1 8 ▁So ft ▁Dr inks ▁Review . ▁In ▁April ▁ 2 0 1 8 ▁only ▁ 8 . 4 % ▁of ▁the ▁market ▁was ▁li able ▁to ▁the ▁le vy ▁because ▁drink s ▁were ▁reform ulated . ▁ ▁Crit ic ism ▁ ▁The ▁tax ▁has ▁been ▁critic ised ▁on ▁several ▁grounds , ▁including ▁its ▁likely ▁effic acy ▁and ▁its ▁narrow ▁base . ▁UK ▁Member ▁of ▁Parliament ▁Will ▁Qu ince ▁as , ▁" pat ron ising , ▁re gress ive ▁and ▁the ▁n anny ▁state ▁at ▁its ▁worst ." ▁In ▁addition ▁a ▁study ▁by ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁Glasgow , ▁which ▁sample d