It’s one month before the Special Tax on Non-Reusable Plastic Containers comes into effect, and the value chain is not yet ready to emerge. “There is uncertainty because there is a lot of technical doubt,” says Luis Cediel, managing director of the Spanish Association of Plastics Manufacturers (ANAIP). The main problem arises from the lack of legislation that embodies the basic questions of tax, such as who the taxpayer will be or how the goods will be declared at the customs. expired, Administrative management costs increase and companies pass the tax on to consumers to face them. “It is such a complex tax that it will be unenforceable and very difficult to control,” says Belén Palao, a member of the AEDAF Group of Indirect Experts.
“The law allows manufacturers to pass the tax amount to their customers. Alberto García Valera, former Managing Director of Taxes at EY, explains, “In the later stages of distribution, the arrangement itself also envisages that the invoice or certificate may be presented separately at the request of the buyer. refuses to respond “due to competition” as it will depend on the company.
Cediel confirms this: “It will cost extra for companies to adapt their administrative processes, registration and certification processes.” It is assumed that administrative costs will reach 700 million euros to update computer systems and in many cases even redefine logistics processes. The Ministry of Finance expects to collect about 725 million per year. “After all, it’s one more component of the price of the product,” Palao says.
Plastic tax forces you to pay 0.45 Euros per kilo of non-reusable plastic, although the selling price of products with this material is 0.8 euro per kilo. The standard requires confirmation of the origin and quantity of non-recycled plastic for each purchase or import, regardless of the supplier’s country of residence and willingness to provide this information. However, in the first year of implementation, manufacturers will be able to make a self-declaration that includes how much recycled material is used in their products.
“We’re worried about the material going in through customs,” says Cediel. How the goods will be declared at customs and adapted for future imports is still unknown. Firms are concerned about the lack of control and certification of products, and therefore they fear that the tax will affect competition. “This is a very broad tax because it also affects all types of packaging,” Palao emphasizes.
Impossibility of delaying tax
Only Spain is considering the approval of a tax with these characteristics in Europe, because Italy postponed until 2024 and Portugal implements it in two phases. FIAB recalls the Italian example and underlines the technical complexity of the tax in order to find another moment for its implementation. “Given the moment of great instability we find ourselves in, it is vital that the Government delay the enactment of this tax,” they say. In order for the tax not to affect the competitiveness of companies and the consumer, value chain associations such as ASEDAŞ, ANGED, AECOC, ASAJA, COAG or EsPlásticos sent a letter to different ministries with the same reasoning months ago.
Despite his efforts,There is no possibility of deferment of this taxBecause the rate will require parliamentary approval and is part of the commitments agreed between the Government and the European Commission to receive funds for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, Palao says.
And other countries like Germany or the United States, implement similar measures to promote circular economy. “Given that we have better recycling percentages than other states, and we will also be the last country in Europe to recover pre-covid economic levels, it doesn’t make much sense to us to be the first to set this tax,” he says. Garcia Valero. Therefore, AEDAF’s request is not to change the effective date, but to change it urgently before 31 December of this year.
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