Since April 2022, the UK Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) has applied to UK manufacturers and importers that produce or import more than 10 tonnes of plastic packaging each year. Businesses pay £223.69 per tonne on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic, with the rate reviewed annually by HMRC. Staying compliant through accurate records, evidence of recycled content, and submitting timely PPT returns ensures you avoid penalties and unexpected costs.
Beyondly helps businesses confirm their Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) liabilities and understand the overall impact of the tax, including financial, data, and reporting obligations. Beyondly can identify key impacts and support your business with data gathering, as well as bringing your PPT submission together for HMRC. To mitigate these increased plastic-related costs, Beyondly’s Sustainable Packaging service provides recommendations to improve your packaging material choices, ensuring they work for your business and the environment.
At Beyondly, we make staying compliant with the plastic packaging tax simple.
It has already been confirmed that the changes around chemically recycled plastics will be legislated in the Finance Bill 2025-26 to be introduced in 2027, but there were also a couple of other announcements for PPT:
Determining your Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) liability is rarely straightforward. The rules can be intricate, involving detailed criteria for qualifying products, annual rate adjustments, recycled content thresholds, and frequent updates to HMRC guidance. For many businesses, keeping pace with these changes while ensuring accurate reporting can be a significant administrative and financial challenge.
Beyondly removes the guesswork by collecting, validating, and preparing the precise data you need to complete your tax return. Our team ensures your records are fully compliant and ready for seamless upload to the HMRC portal, allowing you to meet your ongoing PPT obligations without the stress and uncertainty of managing the process in-house. Beyondly also has a good relationship with HMRC, enabling best practice compliance.
We go beyond simple data preparation. Our specialists can review and screen your calculations, cross-check formulas, and verify key figures such as your tax liability date, total liability, and overall cost.
Unsure if you are obligated?
Our in-house team of experts can guide you through the process of understanding your specific plastic tax liability, credits and exemptions and the effects of the tax on your business, including financial, data and reporting aspects. Our expert team can help implement internal or supply chain policies and support your tax compliance methodology.
Frequently asked questions
The Plastic Packaging Tax is a UK government tax introduced on 1 April 2022. It applies to plastic packaging that is manufactured in, or imported into, the UK that contains less than 30% recycled plastic.
Businesses that manufacture or import more than 10 tonnes of plastic packaging within a 12-month period must register and may be liable to pay the tax. Both UK producers and overseas importers are included.
The rate of the tax is currently £223.69 per tonne (as of April 2025), however this will increase to £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026.
Businesses must register with HMRC, submit quarterly returns, and pay any tax due directly through the HMRC online system.
HMRC can impose penalties for late registration, incorrect reporting, or unpaid tax. Businesses may also be liable for backdated payments.
Work with us to be confident your packaging materials and formats are ready for future regulatory changes, minimise financial obligations and lifecycle impact. Our friendly team of experts can review your packaging to better understand it’s impact and help you take action to reduce performance across the packaging life cycle.
We've always found Beyondly very easy to deal with, with prompt response to queries or requests and the explanations provided have always been really clear and easy to understand. Everyone we deal with is always friendly and helpful.
