The British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA) held a webinar on the implications and preparations required ahead of the forthcoming plastic packaging tax legislation which comes into force in April 2022.
Key speakers were Paul van Danzig and Alyce Morris from BHETA business service provider, Wastepack who outlined what supplier companies need to do to comply with the forthcoming legislation.
The webinar covered the tax obligations under the 2022 Plastic Packaging Tax, what records to keep, how the procedures will work and how to submit relevant tax returns.
Under the new legislation, all plastic items used in the packaging of products must include a minimum of 30% recycled content, or face taxes of £200 per metric tonne of chargeable plastic packaging components. All suppliers whose products include any plastic component – recycled or not - must submit details to HMRC from April 2022, if the volumes involved meet the ten tonne per tax year threshold. Additionally, even suppliers who are below the volume threshold would be advised to keep records in case of audit – even if they do not have to pay the tax.
The legislation may affect any home or garden business which manufactures or imports plastic packaging, including ready packaged goods. The webinar also covered off certain single-use products which might be categorised as packaging for the purposes of the tax and followed on from BHETA’s lobbying campaign to clarify the definition of plastic packaging. This lobbying led to the exclusion of multi-use plastic such as home storage containers, lunchboxes and garden planters and storage from the scope of the legislation.
Steve Richardson, BHETA marketing manager, said: “The amended legislation follows the principle BHETA championed that ‘single use plastics’ are much more challenging for the environment than ‘multi-use’ products. In accordance with this, members need to be aware that any plastic packaging or single use items for home and garden will be liable to the plastic packaging tax. The draft legislation also sets out that single use plastic items for home use, such as carrier bags and plastic cups, are within the scope of the tax.”
Will Jones, Chief Operating Officer of BHETA said: “When this draft legislation was originally made public for consultation, it was made clear that the tax framework that was conceived, and previously presented, as a measure ‘to encourage the use of recycled plastic … within packaging.’ This is entirely laudable but to comply it is vital that suppliers understand both the scope and the reporting processes in detail, as well of course as the financial implications.”
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