The government says that since the new levy was announced in March 2016, many manufacturers have registered for the levy and reduced their sugar content, but some importers, producers and packagers of soft drinks still need to do this.

It is a criminal offence to fail to register, and to fail to register before the deadline.

David Richardson, HMRC director general for customer strategy and tax design, said: ‘The UK has one of the highest obesity rates among developed countries. Soft drinks are still the biggest source of sugar in children’s diets - this is why this levy is so important.’

The SDIL was introduced on 6 April 2018. There are different rules about when registration for the levy needs to take place, depending on how and when drinks liable for the levy are handled.

Those classed as a ‘small producer’ are not liable for the levy. This covers businesses and anyone connected with them that produced less than one million litres (worldwide) of liable drinks over the past 12 rolling months (including before 6 April 2018), and which will not produce over one million litres of liable drinks in the next 30 days.

Income generated from the levy will be used to help double the Primary Sports Premium, create a Healthy Pupils Capital Fund to help schools upgrade their sports facilities, and provide children with PE equipment. It will also boost funding for healthy school breakfast clubs.

Guidance Check if you need to register for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is here.

Report by Pat Sweet