As we’re coming into summer, I’ve been buying sunscreen for the months ahead. Call it hitting my thirties or something else altogether, but I’ve become diligent during the past year at putting on SPF most days.
I recently learned about a 2023 UK parliamentary debate regarding Value Added Tax on sunscreen. It’s currently at 20%, like most products, but due to soaring rates of skin cancer, there has been a push to have VAT removed. Such a move would make sunscreen significantly cheaper and position it as an item of necessity; similar to how healthy foods at supermarkets are “zero rated” and don’t have VAT added.
Unfortunately, little progress has been made, and the current government has no plans to remove VAT on sunscreen. But it did get me thinking about how I’d welcome the presence / absence of VAT to be used more liberally by governments to incentivise consumers to make healthier choices.
It’s a subtle intervention that can be both carrot and stick.