French Senate to adopt drastic increase in water consumption tax...The implementation is unknown.

The French Senate is pushing for a significant increase in VAT on bottled water sold in plastic bottles to promote drinking of tap water.

According to French Senate broadcaster Püvlique Sena, the Senate adopted a proposal to increase the value-added tax on bottled water on the market from the current 5.5% to 20% during the review of next year's budget on the 27th local time.

The Senate expects this to secure 150 million to 300 million euros and about 220 billion to 440 billion won in tax revenue.

Rep. Raphael Dobbae, a left-wing lawmaker who proposed the plan, explained that it was intended to encourage consumers to choose economical and eco-friendly tap water.

The French government, however, opposes the proposed increase in the value-added tax on bottled water, saying it would be a relatively bigger burden on low-income people and that higher bottled water prices would result in consumers looking for cheaper drinks, which would be detrimental to public health.

There is a possibility that the value-added tax on bottled water will not increase as the government may pass the government budget without approval from the House and Senate.