Guidance

Register a group of companies for Plastic Packaging Tax

How to register a group of companies for Plastic Packaging Tax.

• From: HM Revenue & Customs
• Published: 4 November 2021
• Last updated: 5 July 2023 — See all updates

Who should register and when

You must register for Plastic Packaging Tax if you:

• expect to import into the UK or manufacture in the UK 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components in the next 30 days
• have imported into the UK or manufactured in the UK 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components in the last 12 months

The 10 tonnes of plastic packaging components can be a combination of manufactured and imported packaging.

You must register within 30 days of meeting the 10-tonne threshold. You may need to pay a penalty if you do not.

Who can register as a group

If you’re part of a group of companies, you can appoint a UK-established representative member to register for Plastic Packaging Tax, submit returns and make payments on the group’s behalf.

A group of companies is 2 or more corporate bodies that are established in the UK and are all under the same control.

To register in this way, the group must include at least one company established in the UK, and each company in the group must:

• check if they need to register for Plastic Packaging Tax
• meet the 10-tonne threshold
• be under the same control
• be a corporate body in their own right

You cannot register as part of a group if you are:

• an overseas business without a UK establishment
• a charitable incorporated organisation

Find out how to register as a single business or individual.

Appointing and acting as a group representative member

All the members of the group will need to appoint a UK-established representative member of the group. The appointed representative member must:

• be a member of the group of companies
• be resident in the UK
• have a permanent establishment in the UK
• not be a member of another group of companies

Once appointed, they must do the following on behalf of the whole group:

• register for Plastic Packaging Tax
• submit returns
• pay the tax
• make updates and change any of the registration details

All members are joint and severally liable for each other’s obligations for Plastic Packaging Tax.

This means that responsibility of payment is not solely given to the chosen representative member. All companies in the group are responsible for making sure payments are made on time, regardless of which companies have tax liability.

What you’ll need

As the representative member registering a group of companies you’ll need:

• your Government Gateway user ID and password — if you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you register
• a customer identification number — for UK-established businesses this could be a:
  • customer reference number
  • Corporation Tax unique tax reference
• the type of company you are registering
• a contact name, address, phone number and email address for each company
• to make sure all business addresses listed on Companies House are up to date and include the country of each business

You must also confirm that all group members are under the same control and give the:

• expected weight of the finished plastic packaging components they will manufacture or import in the next 12 months
• date they met the 10-tonne threshold, or when they expect to do so in the next 30 days

The group registration will take effect from the day that the application is made.

You may be asked questions about the tax records of the companies you’re registering.

If anyone in your group is already registered for Plastic Packaging Tax

If anyone in the group (including you) is already registered for Plastic Packaging Tax, they must cancel their registration before the group registration is established.

How to register

Online services may be slow during busy times. Check if there are any problems with this service.

You can save your progress as you complete the registration.

After you’ve registered

Making changes to a group

Once the group registration application has been approved, the group representative member can use the online service to:

• add and remove members from the group
• make updates and change some of the registration details
• receive updates from HMRC about the account
• submit Plastic Packaging Tax returns
• change the group representative member

When making changes, remember that:

• the criteria for being part of a group must be fulfilled by all members
• a company leaving a group, or all the companies in a group being closed, may need to register immediately in its own right if it meets one of the tests for registration
• a company being added to the group must first deregister if it is already registered in its own right

How to change the group representative member

If you change the group representative member, the outgoing representative group member must remove Plastic Packaging Tax from their business tax account.

You should then sign in to your business tax account and remove Plastic Packaging Tax from it.

The new group representative member will then be able to add Plastic Packaging Tax in their business tax account. They will need the group’s:

• Plastic Packaging Tax registration number
• registration date for Plastic Packaging Tax

The new group representative member should:

1. Sign in to their business tax account.
2. Choose ‘Get online access to a tax, duty or scheme’.
3. Add Plastic Packaging Tax to their account.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Published 4 November 2021
Last updated 5 July 2023 + show all updates

1. 5 July 2023

   Information added about making sure up to date details are listed with Companies House.

2. 31 March 2023

   You must now look back 12 months from the last day of the month, to check how much finished plastic packaging components you manufactured and imported, instead of looking back from 1 April 2022.

3. 24 January 2023

   Guidance about how to change the group representative member has been added.

4. 21 April 2022

   Information about how to complete returns and payments has been moved to the 'Completing your Plastic Packaging Tax return' guide.

5. 1 April 2022

   You can now register for Plastic Packaging Tax.

6. 4 March 2022

   If you're an overseas business without a UK establishment, you cannot register online from the start of the tax as part of a group or charity. When registering a group, you should not use a Charity Registration Number as the information you give for a company in the group.

7. 7 February 2022

   Added translation

8. 14 January 2022

   Guidance has been updated to include the 10 tonnes threshold that each company must meet.

9. 4 November 2021

   First published.