Speaking at the annual Landfill Tax Credits Scheme seminar held by Entrust in London, Mr Anderson, head of landfill tax policy at Customs and Excise said that by looking at the pre budget report and views expressed by treasury minister Stephen Timms, “you can conclude that the scheme is not delivering government priorities”.
Mr Anderson’s comments confirm a widespread view that there will be fundamental changes to the Landfill Tax Credits Scheme in next month’s Budget statement from the Chancellor. These are likely to point more funding towards recycling and away from some community projects, such as the repair of village halls.
The customs official said that no decision had yet been reached by ministers, but he suggested two ways that the current system could change.
One could be by the use of indicative guidelines, such as suggested by the Environmental Services Association. “There is also the possibility of extending the range of schemes or to remove some of the existing objects.”
Other options under consideration including splitting the scheme into projects which have government priority and those that don’t, allocating all funds through one body which could look more subjectively at each scheme put forward to check value for money. “A more radical approach would be to replace the scheme with a programme of public spending,” said Mr Anderson. This would have the advantage of giving the government money to issue but would lose matching funding.”
How the scheme works
Under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme introduced in October 1996 landfill operators can redirect, as part of a voluntary donation, a proportion of their tax to fund environmental projects.
The scheme encourages partnerships between the landfill operators, their local communities and the voluntary and public sectors.
The scheme allows registered landfill site operators to contribute up to 20% of their landfill tax liability for the year to environment bodies approved by
ENTRUST. ENTRUST. They can then claim a tax credit worth 90% of that contribution.
The aim of the scheme is to encourage more sustainable waste management practices, including recycling and to deliver lasting environmental and community benefits.
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