Measure
The government will increase the rate of UK Plastic Packaging Tax from £200 per tonne to £210.82 per tonne, in line with CPI.
Businesses that are registered or registrable for UK Plastic Packaging Tax, parties in the supply chain for chargeable plastic packaging components that possess a joint and several or secondary liability to the tax, and buyers of chargeable plastic packaging components that can expect to bear the cost of the tax as part of their contractual arrangements.
The rate increase will take effect from 1 April 2023.
It is unsurprising that the government has announced an increase to the tax rate given the intention of the regime is to increase the cost of non-recycled plastic packaging materials, and thereby incentivise the use of recycled plastics.
Affected businesses will need to make sure that the systems and processes they have put in place to calculate their UK Plastic Packaging Tax liability are updated, that consideration is given to whether their contractual arrangements allow for the additional tax to be borne by the intended party, and/or that thought is given to whether the business’ packaging sourcing strategy needs to be revisited given the added tax cost presented by this measure.