Arkansas Soda Tax
The Arkansas soda tax of 1992 levied a two cents per 12oz of soda excise tax, with all the proceeds going towards the state Medicaid fund. It is still in place today.
Cry Wolf Quotes
The tax took away our ability to accumulate funds to replace assets. We were strapped for cash flow.
I'm not saying restaurants are going out of business because of the soda tax. I'm saying it cuts into my profits.
Citizens against Unfair Taxes, or CUT, has held protests in several Northeast Arkansas stores during the past two weeks, handing out literature that says the tax would go into the ‘black hole of government spending.’
People on the other side of the issue, I understand where they're coming from. They want their product funded. But my industry is paying the tax to some degree. That's the bottom line. Admittedly, some of the tax is passed on, but my restaurant and food service operators are paying some of this tax out of their own pocket.