Following the budget announcement on 19 March 2014, HM Revenue & Customs have released their Landfill Tax Briefing. The Briefing covers landfill tax, the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) and the devolution of landfill tax to Scotland from 1 April 2015. A summary of the points covered is below and the full briefing document is to the right hand side of this page.
Landfill tax
Rates
The Government announced in today’s Budget that legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2014 to increase the rates of landfill tax in line with inflation (based on RPI), rounded to the nearest 5 pence, for disposals of waste made, or treated as made, to landfill on or after 1 April 2015.
Consultation on testing regime
Following industry engagement, the Government announced in today’s Budget that it will introduce a loss on ignition testing regime covering the residual waste from waste processing at waste transfer stations (‘fines’) by April 2015. Only fines below a 10% threshold would be considered eligible for the lower rate.
Update on the draft further guidance on lower rating
During discussions at the government-industry working group, it was agreed that the draft guidance circulated in September 2013 would not be published in final form until the working group discussions on the testing regime had concluded.
The Landfill Communities Fund (LCF)
Maximum percentage credit for 2014/2015
The Government announced in today’s Budget a reduction of the potential value of the LCF in 2014/2015 by £7.1m, to £71m, and intends to use the saving from the reduction to address waste crime.
Unspent funds Challenge
At Budget 2011 and 2012 the Government issued a challenge to Environmental Bodies (EBs) to reduce their levels of unspent LCF funds by 25 per cent from the 2009/2010 baseline by March 2013. At Budget 2013 the Government announced the challenge would be retained but the timeframe by which EBs are expected to reduce their unspent funds would be extended to 31 March 2014. An assessment of progress against the Challenge in 2013/2014 can only be made once EBs submit their annual returns for that year.
Payments made to ENTRUST by Environmental Bodies for 2014/2015
EBs must pay a levy on the full contribution they receive from Landfill Operators to us as the regulator of the Fund, to fund our running costs. The EB levy, when agreed, will be published on our website.
Devolution of landfill tax to Scotland from 1 April 2015
Impact on UK landfill tax
From 1 April 2015, operators of landfill sites in Scotland will no longer be liable to pay UK landfill tax for waste disposed of at their Scottish sites. Instead, they will be liable to register and account for Scottish Landfill Tax (SLfT).
Impact on the LCF, including transitional arrangements
As a result of the devolution of landfill tax to Scotland from 1 April 2015, credit against landfill tax for contributions to the LCF will relate only to tax liable from landfill sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.