West Virginia’s soft drink tax is repealed this week

Effective July 1, West Virginia no longer has a tax on soft drinks. (Leann Ray | West Virginia Watch)

Beginning this week, for the first time in more than 70 years, West Virginia has no tax on soft drinks.

Lawmakers approved a bill repealing the tax during the 2022 regular legislative session. The legislation repealed the tax effective July 1.

During his revenue report Monday , Gov. Jim Justice noted the tax had been eliminated and told the audience they “should really clap” for it.

“Thank goodness it’s gone,” Justice said of the tax.

Enacted in 1951, the tax imposed a charge of one cent for each half liter of bottled soft drinks, 80 cents for each gallon of soft drink syrup and 1 cent for each ounce of dry mixture used for making soft drinks.

The money collected supported the construction of a new Health Sciences building and university hospital for West Virginia University. WVU’s School of Medicine moved into the Health Sciences building in 1957 and the university’s hospital opened in 1960, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail .

The tax brought in about $13.7 million in revenue in 2023, according to the state tax office.

As it eliminated the soda tax, the legislation dedicated $14 million a year in insurance tax proceeds to the WVU schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing and related programs, $5.5 million to the medical school at Marshall University and $3.9 million to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

The West Virginia Beverage Association, an organization whose board members comprise representatives from Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, Pepsi Bottling Group and Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group, has opposed the tax. In a statement, organization president Larry Swann called repealing the tax “a win for West Virginia’s working families, small businesses and  the state economy.

“This tax unfairly raised prices on hundreds of everyday beverage products for 71 years, and the historic action taken by our Governor and the legislature improves the  competitive edge of West Virginia businesses,” Swann said.

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