Environmental Tax solutions ltd

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CCL  is an energy tax for business. It will appear on the bottom of every bill and is charged by utilities on their supply of gas and electricity (and LPG and coal). There are a number of reliefs depending on how electricity is generated, the use of the energy and the type of business.

Who pays CCL? Almost everyone as part of bills, but directly, utility businesses or generators of electricity by burning fossil fuels.

Who may need advice? Business that is energy intensive by melting metals or firing ceramics. energy intense businesses that are within a Climate Change Agreement where  full CCL relief at a facility isn’t claimed.  Universities or hospitals that operate a Combined Heat and Power Station (CHP)  or need a review of the CCL that they pay on their bills. Electricity generators from fossil fuels that directly supply energy may also need advice, especially when assets are transferred

Aggregates Levy is a tax on the sale of aggregate. It generally impacts quarries and their customers by inflating the price of aggregate, ostensibly to encourage the use of recycled aggregate, but the impact of this is debatable.

Who pays AGL? Essentially anyone building anything or using aggregate for fill. But directly, quarrying companies.

Who may need advice? Any quarry company, although changes in legislation in 2023 brought some activities by construction companies into the levy for the first time. HMRC have begun to look through the whole extraction industry with a view to tax more material produced as a spoil from the production of economic minerals. HMRC need to be carefully managed at early stages of interaction to ensure that they understand the reason for these arising to ensure that they are not incorrectly taxed..

Introduced in 2022 PPT taxes the production and import of plastic packaging. Although essentially taxing the manufacturers of packaging in the UK, the 10tonne annual de minimis import of plastic packaging has lead to importers of other goods, packaged in plastic, to be liable to pay the tax.

Who pays PPT? Any manufacturer or importer of more than 10t of  plastic packaging  components a year.

Who may need advice? Manufacturers and importers of packaging are likely to have expertise in house, but may need some assistance if HMRC build up their compliance activities. 

Importers of goods, however, are increasingly becoming a target of HMRC’s activities. Advice may be needed on what materials are taxable, how exports should be treated and how to account for the import of plastic packaging, ideally to manage this to avoid becoming obligated to register for the tax, and the associated administrative burdens.  

Landfill tax is the UK’s  oldest tax introduced as an Environmental Tax. It charges over £100 per tonne on material that is placed in landfill. The idea was to make landfilling of waste more expensive, to make other disposal methods more competitive, and push more material into recycling, and waste to energy.

To a great extent landfill tax, combined with producer responsibilities and planning, has led to  a large decline in the volumes of material sent to landfill. The UK is approaching a position that only material that has no other method of disposal is sent to landfill.

Who pays landfill tax? Registered landfill operators, but ultimately everyone pays as part of council tax or pays a premium on products that have waste in any of their manufacture and use. 

Who may need advice? Operators may need a review about their landfill tax records and processes. Waste processors may be in need of advice as HMRC look at water discounting and the processing of fines, where lower rate has been paid. This may get complicated should HMRC discover testing hasn’t produced the expected results and needs to be resolved in partnership between operator and producer.

HMRC  are focussing on landfill tax and are looking at both operators and waste processors who send material to landfill. Any area where the full £102.10 isn’t paid on disposal is in their sights. HMRC are also looking at registered sites to audit the quality of material that is disposed of. 

APD is a charge on transporting passengers by air.  The rate depends  on the class of travel, distance and size of the aircraft.

Who pays APD? Passengers on aircraft. But directly, operators  of passenger carrying aircraft, whether that is commercial or private jets, anyone responsible for flying aircraft may have to pay APD.

Who may need advice? HMRC’s APD team is very small and audits by them are not common, however some areas of APD are often miscalculated, especially concerning connecting flights. Operators may need to be aware of the issue and the potential risks, which may require a review.

Although  working remotely will allow a certain knowledge of any business and any possible areas of concern, there’s nothing like meeting staff face to face to understand the processes and operations.

To get full understanding of issues for a  review, meetings in person will be needed. However one off issues, or advice in general (when engaged) can be via Teams.