Regulation NAC-DGERCGC20-00000033 issued on May 6, 2020, by the General Director of the Internal Revenue Service established the following rules for the payment of the Excise Tax (ICE) on plastic bags.
Taxable base:
The taxable base of the excise tax is the number of plastic bags delivered by the commercial establishment to the consumer. A plastic bag is defined as one with or without a handle, produced from high- and low-density polypropylene or low-density polyethylene resins.
Tax rate:
The excise tax rate will be the described in the following chart:
YearICE specific rate
2020 US$0,04 by plastic bag 2021 US$0,06 by plastic bag 2022 US$0,08 by plastic bag 2023 US$0,10 by plastic bagCollecting agents:
Commercial establishments which, in order to facilitate the transfer of goods, deliver plastic bags to the purchaser, shall act as a collecting agent of the excise tax.
All entities and individuals required to keep accounting books who market products at a wholesale or retail level are regarded as commercial establishments, also all franchisers and their franchisees, regardless of the number of establishments.
Exemptions
The following are exempted from paying excise tax:
- Plastic bags for industrial, agricultural, agro-industrial and export use, for frozen products.
- The plastic bags that contain at least 50% of recycled raw material post consumption.
- Plastic bags used as primary packaging. Plastic bags for single use that are in direct contact with food in their natural state and beverages, cleaning and personal hygiene items, chemicals, paints, lubricants, among others, are considered primary packaging.
The following plastic bags have a 50% discount from the excise tax rate:
- Biodegradable plastic bags regarded as those that come from natural renewable materials that can be decomposed into natural chemical elements by the action of biological agents, such as the sun, water, bacteria, plants or animals, without human intervention under normal environmental conditions.
- Compostable plastic bags regarded as those that come from biodegradable material that, when properly disposed of, are degraded in a shorter time than biodegradable plastic and which purpose is to be converted into fertilizer or compost.
Manufacturers and importers that are eligible for applying these exemptions or reductions must be certified by the Authority. The list of qualified manufacturers and importers will be published periodically on the institutional website of the Internal Revenue Service.
Declaration and payment of the tax:
Collecting agents must submit a monthly tax return with the operations carried out within each month, using the “Excise Tax Declaration Form”, code 3680. Taxpayers subject to the microenterprise regime must file the return every six months.
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