In a document published yesterday (30 November), the government said it will question stakeholders on features of the tax, such as the rate that applies to different materials and how exemptions and discounts can be claimed.
It explained it “wants to understand” the views of stakeholders, “in particular in relation to waste management”.
The government will then measure responses to assess how the Tax can support its “ambitious environmental objectives”, including achieving zero avoidable waste by 2050.
It follows announcements in Spring this year that there would be a review of Landfill Tax in England and Northern Ireland.
The call to evidence will run until 22 February 2022.
Impact
A part of the review, the government will also gather views on the structure of the tax and the impacts of any proposed changes to this on businesses, local authorities and individuals, and waste crime.
Alongside this, the call to evidence will consider the interactions between the Landfill Tax in England and Northern Ireland, with the Scottish Landfill Tax and the Landfill Disposals Tax in Wales.
Tax
Landfill Tax is charged on material disposed of at a landfill site or an unauthorised waste site.
It was implemented in 1996 to “encourage efforts” in minimising the amount of waste produced and the use of alternative waste management options, such energy recovery.
Concerns
In February this year, the governments spending watchdog expressed concerns that while the Landfill Tax “significantly” reduced the use of landfill sites, it also “incentivised more illegal disposal of waste” (see letsrecycle.com story).
The report published by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that HMRC had ‘formally’ evaluated the impact of the Landfill Tax but had not carried out any further evaluations of the impact.
It concluded there was some evidence of the positive impact that taxes could have on the environment, but too little is known about their effect.
Rise in rates
In the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s latest budget, it was revealed that rises in landfill tax rates will continue to be in line with the Retail Price Index, rounded to the nearest 5 pence.
This means that from 1 April 2022 the Landfill Tax rate for general waste will rise to £98.60 per tonne, up by £0.90 from £96.70 in the current financial year (see letsrecycle.com story).
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