The new Spanish excise tax on non-reusable plastic packaging

By Carlos Frühbeck, Ficesa Treuhand, S.A.P.

The Spanish government has recently introduced a new excise tax on non- reusable plastic packaging. Although the tax was approved by law 7/ 2022 on 26 September 2022, the ministerial order implementing the law was not published in the Official State Gazette until 28 December 2022, i.e. three days before the new tax was due to come into force.

General lines of the new tax:

The manufacture, import, or intra- community acquisition of the following products are subject to the new tax:

Non-reusable packaging containing plastic;
Semi-finished plastic products intended to produce the packaging referred to in (1), such as thermoplastic preforms or sheets; and
Products containing plastics intended to permit the closure, marketing, or presentation of non-reusable packaging.

Exemptions

The law provides for several exemptions as follows :

(a) Plastic packaging of medicines, medical devices, foodstuffs for special medical purposes, infant formulae for hospital use, or hazardous waste of medical origin.

(b) Semi-finished plastic products intended to produce or to enable the closure of the packaging described in paragraph (a).

(c) Packaging intended for the containment, protection, handling, distribution, and presentation of the products described in paragraph (a).

(d) Manufacture, importation, or intra- community acquisition of rolls of plastic, used in bales of fodder or cereals for agricultural or livestock use.

(e) Intra-community acquisition of taxable products intended to be sent directly by the acquirer or by a third party in their name or on their behalf to a territory other than Spain.

(f) Intra-community acquisition of taxable products which have ceased to be fit for use or have been destroyed, provided that these facts are proved to the tax office.

(g) The importation or intra-community acquisition of taxable packaging provided that the total weight of the non-recycled plastic contained in such packaging does not exceed 5 kg in any one month.

Tax base and tax rate

The taxable base of the new tax is the quantity of non-recycled plastic, expressed in kilograms, contained in the products subject to the tax.

The amount of recycled plastic contained in the products subject to the tax must be certified by an entity accredited to issue certification under the UNE-EN 15.343:2008 standard.

The tax rate is EUR 0.45 per kilogram.

Deductions

Taxpayers who perform intra-community acquisitions of products subject to the tax may deduct from the tax due the amount of tax paid with respect to:

(a) Products which have been dispatched outside Spain by the taxpayer or by a third party, in their name or on their behalf.

(b) Products which, before they are first supplied or made available to the acquirer in Spain, are no longer fit for use or have been destroyed.

(c) Products which have been returned for destruction or reintroduction into the manufacturing process, subject to reimbursement of the amount thereof to the acquirer.

General management rules

Taxpayers must register in the territorial register of the special tax on non-reusable plastic packaging in the province of residence.

The tax period will coincide with the calendar quarter, except in the case of taxpayers whose VAT period is monthly. In this case the tax period will also be monthly.

Taxpayers must pay the tax within 20 days of the end of the tax period. In the case of imports, the tax is paid directly at customs, at the time of import.

Taxpayers are obliged to keep a stock’s register of plastic products subject to tax, in which all entries and exits of taxable products during the tax period are recorded. This register is only compulsory for manufacturers and intra-community purchasers of the taxable products. Importers are not obliged to keep the stock’s register of plastic products. Companies are obliged to transmit the stock’s register electronically to the tax office monthly.

Final comments

The new excise tax on non-reusable plastic packaging is a complex tax to declare and even more complex for the tax office to review. As the tax has been introduced with effect from 01 January 2023, we still have no practical experience or knowledge of the criteria that the tax office will follow to assess and review the tax.

In any case, as of today, we already know that this tax will generate new administrative and economic burdens on taxpayers.

Published: Indirect Taxes Newsletter, No. 13 Spring 2022 l Photo: nordroden - stock.adobe.com