HMRC has announced that it has set up a temporary landfill tax hotline to deal with queries relating to the newly announced changes.
HMRC released a statement today (13 June) inviting those with questions relating to the tax to call the new hotline: “HMRC have set up a direct dial phone number to deal with any issues regarding the recently published landfill tax Revenue & Customs briefs. If you have a query please call 0161 827 0233 during normal office hours (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) or alternatively please leave a message for a next working day call-back.”
The amended landfill tax, released 18 May, has been the source of anger for many in the waste disposal industry, after changes to the classifications of materials used in landfill saw some materials jump from a tax bracket of £2.50 a tonne to £64 a tonne, a rise of 2460 per cent. Dozens of skip lorries blocked the streets outside parliament on 24 May in protest, arguing that the changes in the tax would bankrupt them.
This ‘widespread misunderstanding’ led HMRC to print Revenue & Customs Brief 18/12 in order to provide ‘further clarification and to alleviate a number of concerns raised by specific business sectors’. This document outlined that unless material going to landfill was listed in the Landfill Tax (Qualifying Material) Order 2011, it would be charged at the higher rate of £64 a tonne.
The new hotline will be open until further guidance is published, says HMRC. “HMRC is committed to resolving any misunderstandings and is now working closely with Defra, the Environment Agency and the industry to produce additional guidance on the evidential requirements to ensure the correct rate of landfill tax is applied. Until this guidance is published, if you have any questions, please contact HMRC using the telephone number above."
The temporary landfill tax hotline is: 0161 827 0233 (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm).
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