Three options for a sugary tax are being presented in a petition to Government officials on Tuesday.

Three options for a tax on sugary drinks are set to be handed to members of Parliament along with a petition with close to 10,000 signatures, calling for a tax.

The Maori Party, Greens and The Opportunities Party will respond to a policy brief from the New Zealand Beverage Guidance Panel (NZBGP) – a collection of academics and health academics, on Tuesday morning.

The brief, which outlines three ways to tax sugary drinks by volume, has been coupled with petition led by Healthy Food Guide magazine, and supported by the Heart Foundation, Diabetes New Zealand, Dietitians NZ and the New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA).

The petition calls for money generated from a tax to be channelled into education initiatives about healthy eating and nutrition.

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"Of course it's not a magical solution to tooth decay, but it's an important piece of the puzzle," Healthy Food Guide editor-in-chief Niki Bezzant​ said.

ROB BEAGLEHOLE Teeth extracted from children addicted to sugary drinks.

The first option proposed is a tax rate of $1 a litre. It would increase the price of a standard 355ml can of soft drink by 35 cents.

A 1.5L bottle would be $1.50 dearer, maning budget brands that sell for $1 would therefore be subject to a 150 per cent price increase.

This rate is equal to the sugary drinks tax implemented in Philadelphia, of 1.5c a US ounce.

The second option is a tax of 50c a litre. A 355ml can would increase by 18c, and a 1.5L soft-drink by 75c tax.

This option would generate $100m in a year, or $65m if pure fruit juices were excluded from the tax, the policy brief stated.

The third option would be a tiered tax - akin to the tax set to come into force in the UK in 2018.

It would mean a rate of 32c tax per litre for drinks with 5-8g of sugar per 100ml, and 42c for beverages with more than 8g of sugar per 100ml.

NZDA spokesman Rob Beaglehole said the highest tax rate would reduce the health burden on taxpayers.

"Ultimately we are trying to save the taxpayer money and reduce suffering for young children."

Sugary drinks are already subject to GST, so this would mean they are taxed twice, in the same way that tobacco, alcohol and petrol are, the policy brief said.

The brief includes an exemption for small scale businesses, so people who are selling drinks at school events or festivals aren't stung.

It also tackled the argument that the ax would disproportionately affect poorer communities, and said: "The health complications of high sugary drink intake are significantly more regressive and these diseases disproportionately impact on poorer communities."

The third option of a tiered tax is supposed to incentivise manufacturers to bring down the sugar content in their products.

Bezzant said this had happened in the UK already, even though the tax wasn't set to come in to force until 2018.

"Food and drinks companies are smart, and drinks companies are already coming up with sugar free or innovative products with less sugar."