Excise tax on plastic bags: the increase for 2019

This is contemplated in Article 512-15 of the ET. In addition, if the new simple taxation regime proposed in the financing bill is approved, those who adhere to it would have to continue charging the national consumption tax on plastic bags.

The rule contained in Article 512-15 of the ET, created with Article 207 of Law 1819 of 2016, contemplates that as of January 1, 2019 those responsible for VAT in the common regime who deliver plastic bags to their customers for the transportation of goods will have to increase the collection of the National Consumption Tax -INC- on such bags, which will increase from $30 to $40 per unit. This is a tax that according to press reports, allowed the Dian to collect in its first year of application (from July 2017 to July 2018) close to 20,000 million pesos.

In this regard, it is important to keep in mind that the rules of articles 512-15 and 512-16 of the ET(the latter regulated by Decree 2198 of December 26, 2017), dictate that if reusable bags or bags with certain special degrees of biodegradability come to be used in the establishment of commerce, then the INC will not have to be charged or may be charged in a reduced form in which the procedures that the manufacturers of the bags or their importers must comply with in order to obtain a certification before the National Authority of Environmental Licenses -Anla- that allows them to commercialize bags that will not cause the INC or will allow them to charge it in a reduced form).

The simple regime contemplated in the financing bill and the liability for the INC of plastic bags.

In relation to this issue and bearing in mind that since last October 31, 2018, a new financing bill was filed in Congress with which it is proposed to make major changes to the national taxes administered by the Dian, it is important to highlight that none of the proposals contained in said bill contemplates so far the elimination of the INC to plastic bags.

“In the simple regime, individuals or legal entities that obtain gross income of up to 80,000 UVT per year may voluntarily register”.

However, one of the most novel proposals contained in this project is the creation of what would be the new simple taxation regime. According to the proposal, in the simple regime, individuals or legal entities that obtain gross income of up to 80,000 UVT per year may voluntarily register, and they would be required to file a single annual return in which a special tax (calculated only on their gross income) would be paid, which would replace their income tax, their industry and commerce tax and their INC for bar and restaurant services.

In accordance with the above, if the taxpayer that is under the simple regime will continue to belong to the common VAT regime and will also continue to deliver plastic bags to its customers, in that case it should be kept in mind that it will have to continue filing its VAT returns bimonthly or quarterly as well as its bimonthly INC return (charged on plastic bags), since as previously stated the value of the special tax that it will be asked to calculate in the simple regime does not replace any of these two taxes.

Source: Actualícese