We are pleased to publish a document which sets out the services which ENTRUST is able to provide to Landfill Operators (LOs).
The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) enables LOs in England and Northern Ireland to contribute a proportion of their landfill tax liability to community and environmental organisations to 'offset' some of the negative impacts of living in the vicinity of a landfill site.
LOs are required to ensure they only make contributions to an enrolled Environmental Body (EB) and that they do not receive any 'Unique Benefit' as a result of their contribution. They also have a wide range of reporting and record keeping obligations under the Landfill Tax Regulations 1996 (Regulations).
If LCF monies are found to have been spent non-compliantly, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) may seek to recover the non-compliant expenditure from the contributing LO through clawback. However, there are a number of measures LOs can adopt to mitigate the risk of clawback, which are set out in the document.
ENTRUST provides HMRC with independent assurance that LCF monies are spent compliantly in accordance with the Regulations. As a direct consequence of carrying out this function, ENTRUST is also able to support LOs in mitigating their potential risk of clawback of the tax credit. (Clawback can arise when HMRC considers that LCF funds are found to have been spent non-compliantly and involves HMRC recovering from the funding LO the tax credit it claimed against the misspent LCF funds.)
LOs should also look to ensure that the maximum benefit is derived through their contributions to the LCF fund by requiring that the projects they fund represent good value for money (VfM). This can be done by asking for reports from their EBs outlining the wider benefits of their projects.
ENTRUST can provide a range of services to LOs to help them fulfil their obligations under the LCF scheme. This help ranges from overviews detailing the operation of the scheme, through to general advice on good practice. Further information on the services that ENTRUST can offer to LOs is available in the document on the right hand side of this page.
If LOs require any further assistance they are welcome to contact ENTRUST, who will help as far as possible. ENTRUST can be contacted through our Helpline by phone on 01926 488 300 or email on helpline@entrust.org.uk