Seven years after a former Mayor of Pittsburgh proposed a tax on soft drinks/pop/sweetened beverages, the latest round of legal argument over the Philadelphia tax is being heard in Pittsburgh in front of the Commonwealth Court. It is being heard here because the Court is using three locations this year, and for the remainder of the week Pittsburgh is the locale.
The argument over the Philly tax is on appeal from Philadelphia Common Pleas Court where it was upheld. The tax is being levied at a rate of 1.5 cents per ounce and went into effect on January 1st. As the regulations for the tax collection points out “The tax is not just on sodas. This tax is on any non-alcoholic beverage, syrup, or other concentrate used to prepare a beverage that lists as an ingredient any form of caloric sugar-based sweetener, including, but not limited to sucrose, glucose, or high fructose corn syrup”.
