The Portuguese Department of Excise Duties and Vehicle Taxes recently published guidance on the procedures and formalities required to comply with the obligations arising from the application of the contribution on single-use packaging made of plastic or aluminum (or multi-material with plastic or aluminum) for ready-to-eat meals like takeaways (including drive-in or with home-delivery as well as meals packed within establishments or point-of-sale areas), through the Administrative Ruling no. 35181, of 21 December 2022, which was revised and updated through Administrative Ruling no. 35.189 of 3 January 2023.

The key provisions are summarized below.

Scope of application

For purposes of the contribution, all production, reception (e.g., the entry into the tax warehouse of single-use packaging from a place of importation, from another Member State of the European Union or from the Autonomous Regions), storage, release for consumption, dispatch and/or export operations of single-use packaging made of plastic or aluminum (or multi-material), covered by the following Combined Nomenclature Codes (CN code) are in scope or are subject to the contribution.

Plastic packaging

3923 10 90, 3923 30 10, 3923 50 90, 3923 90 00, 3923 21 00, 3923 29 10, 3923 29 90, 3923 30 90, 4819 10 00, 4819 28 90, 4819 20 90, 408 409 00 00, 4819 50 00.

Aluminum packaging (from 1 September 2023 onwards)

7612 90 30 - Boxes and containers - made from foil with a thickness not exceeding 0.2 mm; 7 612 90 80 - Boxes and containers – other; 7615 10 10 - Tableware, kitchenware, and other household articles – other; 7615 10 30 - Tableware, kitchenware, and other household items – made from leaves; 7615 10 80 - Tableware, kitchenware, and other household articles - Manufactured from sheet not exceeding 0.2 mm thick (other) and not exceeding 0.2 mm thick (cast or molded).

In accordance with Ordinance no. 312-C/2022, of 30 December 2022, which postponed the entry into force of the contribution on single-use packaging with aluminum (or multi-material) from 1 January 2023 to 1 September 2023 (if there is no further postponement), drinks will be excluded from the scope of the contribution (as it was considered inappropriate to charge the contribution when only a drink was being solely acquired).The aim of this exclusion is to avoid any potential distortion of competition between drinks supplied in establishments and drinks supplied through vending systems.

Main obligations

The obligations of communication to the Portuguese tax authorities, which include reporting and invoicing, are maintained for single-use packages containing plastic or multi-material and extended to single-use packages containing aluminum or multi-material.

Instructions for preparing the Declaration of release for consumption (e-DIC)

The issued instructions kept the same provisions with respect to setting-up a tax warehouse, obtaining the status of authorized warehouse keeper, reporting of the contribution and collection models, and obligations arising from the Portuguese goods in circulation regime or, even, in terms on how to process the e-DIC (with or without payment of the contribution).

Therefore, the additional reporting code 1853 has now been introduced as for aluminum. Therefore, it must be considered for the purposes of contribution collection and reporting:

The new category/subcategory EN60, for single-use packaging made of plastic or aluminum (or multi-material)

The measurement type CEP code

The additional IEC 1852 code (plastic)

The additional IEC 1853 code (aluminum)

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For additional information with respect to this Alert, please contact the following:

Ernst & Young, S.A., Lisbon

Amilcar Nunes | amilcar.nunes@pt.ey.com

Catarina Anjo Balona | catarina.balona@pt.ey.com