As seen earlier this year in April in the United Kingdom, and more recently in Italy this month, Spain is introducing a new plastic tax, effective from 1^st January 2023. This is in line with the recurring trend across Europe to introduce fiscal measures with a distinctly ‘green’ agenda. To this effect, the Spanish Congress has passed Law 7/2022 dated 8 April 2022. As in the United Kingdom and Italy, the underlying motivation behind this fiscal initiative is to encourage the reduction of non-reusable plastic, as well as promote the recycling of plastic waste. Key elements of the tax include:

• The tax applies to non-reusable plastic containers; products made of semi-finished plastic that will be used to create non-reusable packaging and plastic products that are used to close, trade, or display non-reusable containers
• These components will generally become taxable when delivered to the customer
• As in the United Kingdom, the tax is not set as a fixed percentage but is expected to be taxed at 0.45 Euros per kg.

Italy is also enacting similar legislation. Please refer to this month’s Italy compliance updates for further information.