The proposed sugar tax levy on the UK soft drinks industry, which was announced by chancellor George Osborne in his Budget speech earlier this year, has faced further criticism with the TaxPayers Alliance claiming it is regressive and nothing more than a tax on the poor.

Calling on the government to scrap the proposal, the alliance claims the tax is entirely arbitrary and has little to do with the sugar content of the products it affects.

During a comparison of 49 drinks in three different groups – regular fizzy drinks, sports and energy drinks (which will be subject to tax); milk based products (which will not be subject to tax); and coffees (which will not be subject to tax) – the alliance found that just one of the 10 most sugary products analysed will be subject to the levy.

Examples of the research include:

• Coca-Cola (10.6g of sugar per 100ml) will be subjected to sugar tax, but a Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and coconut milk (11g of sugar per 100ml) will not
• Energy drinks such as Monster Origin (11g/100ml) will be taxed, but Tesco Chocolate Flavoured Milk (12.4g/100ml) will not.

Added to the mounting evidence that this tax will merely increase the cost of living, the government should abandon this pernicious tax immediately, says the company.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, comments, "It is deeply concerning that the government has given in to the pressures from the public health lobby and is pushing ahead with this regressive tax which will hit the poorest families hardest. The evidence shows that the sugar tax has nothing to do with the sugar content of products, so it is farcical to suggest that this will have any positive impact on peoples diet or lifestyle choices.

"This is yet another example of irresponsible meddling from the high priests of the nanny state, introducing entirely unnecessary complications into an already complicated tax system and pushing up the cost of everyday products for hard pressed families."

The alliances call echoes similar statements from the food and drink industry. The Food and Drink Federation, for example, slammed the announcement as a piece of political theatre which will not make a difference to obesity when it was announced in March.