BIM67525 - Waste disposal: Landfill Tax

Landfill site operators are subject to Landfill Tax levied on the quantity of waste disposed of at the particular site. The site operators pay Landfill Tax over to HMRC. In practice the tax is likely to be borne by the waste generator although there is no requirement that invoices for waste disposal services separate out the Landfill Tax element of the total charge for the service.

In considering landfill site operators and their liability for Landfill Tax there are two possibilities:

  • either the waste is disposed of for a customer of the site operator, or
  • the waste is self-generated by the site operator.

Where Landfill Tax is incurred by a site operator as a consequence of providing waste disposal facilities to others on normal commercial terms there will not normally be any need to make adjustments to the relevant entries in accounts prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice.

Where a trader generates waste, and also disposes of that waste in circumstances where the trader pays Landfill Tax on the weight of waste disposed of to landfill, the Landfill Tax element is allowed as a deduction so long as the other costs incurred in disposing of the waste are themselves deductible.