The treatment of plastic packaging: a newly manufactured tax

Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) is chargeable on plastic packaging imported into the UK or manufactured in the UK, which contains less than 30% recycled content. PPT presents the estimated 20,000 businesses due to be affected, and their advisers, with the unique challenges associated with implementation and operation of a new tax. These arise from both the new data and information needs of the PPT regime, and the usual difficulties of interpretation that arise when new provisions are introduced. Jayne Harrold and Prinal Nathwani of PwC recently produced an article for publication in ‘Tax Adviser’ magazine which is reproduced below with kind permission from the publisher. They explore the relevant legislative developments (in particular, the Plastic Packaging Tax (General) Regulations 2022 (the General Regulations), the requirements presented by PPT for businesses and tax advisers, and where solutions might be found to address what will be the first of many such developments across Europe and the world.