As of July 01, 2023, the Environmental Tax Act is amended and the new regulations pertaining to waste management activities, the extended producer responsibility scheme, will come into force.
The two legal regulations are connected in several places, but there are also significant differences in the regulations. Currently there are still many uncertainties in the interpretation of the law, but both the informative report and the reference legislation outline the concept after July 1, 2023.
1) Changes to the environmental fee law affecting our clients:
After July 1, 2023, the most significant change will affect the determination of tariff rates.
Based on this, the tariff rate will be determined in such a way that the weight of the product subject to the environmental fee is multiplied by the tariff rate (which was also the case until now), but now the amount of the producer responsibility fee will be deducted from it. This fee is currently not yet known.
2) Extended producer responsibility scheme
On March 13, 2023, Government Decree No. 80/2023 was published. (III. 14.) on the rules of operation of the extended producer responsibility scheme.
Please read the legal rule and try to interpret it in relation to your own sphere of activity.
Summary
Under the legal regulation, all entrepreneurs who first market a so-called circular product belonging under the force of the government decree or use it for their own purposes must pay an extended producer responsibility fee.
The extent of the fee is not yet known; there is no legal regulation yet.
In the new waste management system, MOHU MOL Hulladékazdálkodási Zrt., a waste management company, as a concessionary company, operates the new extended producer responsibility scheme.
What are the circular products?
1. Packaging
Packaging within the meaning of Government Decree 442/2012. That is, all products made of materials of any quality, used to contain, protect, deliver, receive, transport and present goods, including all goods from raw materials to processed goods.
Caution! This is not the same as packaging material as defined by the Environmental Tax Act. Currently, packaging material under the environmental tax is not a circular product (with some exceptions), so in that case the extended producer responsibility fee cannot be deducted.
At the same time, those who use the packaging material for packaging, in most cases, are not obligated to pay the environmental tax, unless they have taken it on, but they have to pay the extended producer responsibility fee.
So, those who would not want to pay it twice should consider taking it on in case of the packaging materials purchased in the country.
2. Single-use plastic products and other plastic products.
Some products specified in the government decree on restricting the marketing of single-use products and other plastic products, belonging under the force of Government Decree 301/2021.
Eg:
– food storage containers, boxes that are used to store food that can be consumed immediately on site or for take-out, and that are usually consumed from the container, or that can be consumed as already prepared meals
– flexible bags for storing food that is consumed from the bag
– beverage containers with a maximum capacity of 3 liters
– glasses and their caps
– lightweight plastic bags with a wall thickness between 15 microns and 50 microns
– wet cleaning wipes
– balloons
– tobacco products with filters or separate filters
– fishing equipment
3) electrical and electronic equipment
4) batteries and accumulators
5) motor vehicles
6) tires
7) office paper
8) advertising support paper
9) cooking oil and fats
10) textiles, e.g.: articles of clothing, carpets, blankets, bedding, curtains, household textiles, footwear, etc.
11) wooden furniture.
As can be seen, these products are partly the same as products subject to environmental fee, in which case the producer responsibility fee can be deducted from the environmental fee, and partly they are different, in which case a producer responsibility fee is paid.
According to the current status, the following products will remain subject only to the environmental fee:
– packaging materials
– other plastic products
– other chemical products
– other petroleum products
Obligations inherent in the extended producer responsibility fee:
Who has the obligation to pay:
– One who first places the circular product on the domestic market
– Who uses the circular product for his own purposes
– Who removes products subject to the environmental tax from the tax deposit, warehouse
These terms are the same as those in the Environmental Tax Act.
Registration requirement:
1) On the MOHU website, prior to registration with the Pest County Government Office one can already register as of April 1, 2023.
2) Obligor must register electronically with the Waste Management Department of the Pest County Government Office (currently, electronic contact is not yet working). One can register from May 1 and registration must be completed by May 31.
Obligation to keep records:
Based on the KF code defined in the government decree (not the same as CSK or KT codes), the obligor keeps a register with data content according to Annex 4 of the government decree.
Data supply obligation:
Based on the register, it shall provide data to the national waste management authority by the 20th of the month following the relevant trimester.
Obligation to pay the fee:
On the basis of the data provided, the waste management authority transfers the data to the concessionaire (MOHU Zrt), who, on the basis of the data, issues the invoice to entrepreneurs for the extended producer responsibility fee, which must be paid within 15 days after receipt of the invoice.
Obligation to indicate on the invoice:
The obligor must indicate the following text on the domestic sales invoice:
“Payment of the extended producer responsibility fee is the responsibility of the seller.”
Possibility of exemption:
- Takeover: is only possible in the case of motor vehicles; the manufacturer of the motor vehicle may take it over.
- Shipping abroad: The manufacturer’s extended liability fee does not have to be paid if the obligor’s customer declares that he will ship abroad at least 60 percent of the circular product purchased, either alone or as part of another product.
- Refund: Currently it is not possible to refund the fee.
Compliance with the obligation is verified by the national waste management authority. Failure to comply may result in a waste management fine.
It is true that NAV does not check the extended producer responsibility fee, but during inspections related to the environmental fee it can check whether the extended producer responsibility fee deducted from the environmental fee has been legally determined or not.
This is the current state. Some legal provisions have already come into effect (e.g., the registration requirement), but essential, significant elements will only come into effect on July 1-o July 2023.
If you have any questions on this topic, our professionals can provide assistance with the resulting data provision and record-keeping obligation.
