20 April is an important date in the area of environmental product fee rules since this is when the Q1 environmental product fee returns have to be submitted in Hungary.
What to watch out for when preparing Q1 environmental product fee returns?
In 2017 environmental product fee rules have not changed, in the sense that the returns have to be submitted to the tax authority quarterly and electronically, and the amount of the environmental product fee payable also has to be paid by that deadline. Form 17KTBEV is used to declare the environmental product fee liabilities for 2017, which can be downloaded from the tax authority’s website in Hungarian.
Apart from a few changes, the structure of form 17KTBEV is essentially the same as that of the environmental product fee return used for the previous year.
However, when completing the form, it is important to pay attention to the changes to environmental product fee rules as of 1 January 2017.
For example, from 2017 the flat-rate product fee can be chosen for buses and vehicles transporting goods as well. Consequently, when defining the payment liability for the environmental product fee in the case of these vehicles you don’t have to specify the volume of components subject to the product fee (e.g. batteries, lubricants, tyres), you can spare yourself all this lengthy administrative work by choosing a flat-rate product fee. In such cases, only the number of vehicles has to be indicated in the product fee return along with the appropriate KT (environmental protection) code, and the program will automatically define the rate of the flat-rate product fee.
Based on the above it is important to be accurate in specifying the KT codes (product fee codes for products subject to product fees, except for packaging materials) when completing the form. Naturally, the same applies to the CSK codes (product fee codes used for packaging materials). Since the structure of CSK and KT codes changed in Hungary from 2017, we recommend studying Schedule 1 to the Implementation Decree (Government Decree 343/2011), in order to ensure that the new and updated codes are used in environmental product fee returns to be submitted for the first quarter by 20 April.
It is also important to note when preparing environmental product fee returns that plastic freezer bags will no longer qualify as plastic advertisement shopping bags from 2017, but as plastic packaging. This reclassification means the product fee rate so far of HUF 1,900/kg (EUR 6) drops to HUF 57/kg (0.18 EUR).
Furthermore, no product fee has to be paid in Hungary from 2017 for plastic bags used to collect separated waste, and for packaging made entirely from raw material derived from renewable sources and biodegradable plastic, but there is still declaration obligation for these products.
Why is 20 April still important?
For those opting for individual waste management, the deadline for submitting environmental product fee returns for 2016 is also 20 April 2017.
Additionally, although there is no declaration or recording obligation, an agricultural producer entitled to pay a flat-rate product fee has to settle this 2016 payment obligation by 20 April of the year after the reporting year.
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