Excise duty on plastic carrier bags

A new excise duty on plastic carrier bags was introduced on 1 May, 2020.

The excise duty amounts to SEK 3 per carrier bag. For plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness less than 15µl and a volume less than 7 litres, the duty instead amounts to SEK 0.39 per carrier bag. There are expectations for imports where the number of plastic carrier bags does not exceed 40 per occasion.

Goods subject to the tax are carrier bags which to a greater than insignificant degree consist of plastic. This means that paper carrier bags with plastic details, such as handles and other plastic enhancements, are subject to this excise duty.

Goods included by the new excise duty comprise the following commodity codes:

• 3923 21 00 00
• 3923 29 10 00
• 3923 29 90 00
• 4819 30 00 00
• 4819 40 00 00
  

Declaring excise duty in import declarations

The importer of goods subject to excise duties should pay the excise duty to Swedish Customs. However, you are registered with the Swedish Tax Authority as an authorised warehouse keeper you are exempt at the time of importation, and thus postpone your tax declaration until a later time, for example, the time when the goods are shipped to a purchaser who is not a stockist. Another exemption from the excise duty is single shipments with fewer than 40 plastic carrier bags.

Individuals importing for private consumption are also exempt from excise duty on plastic carrier bags.

New codes in import declarations from 1 May, 2020:

These are the new codes in the import declarations:

• Document Code 9120: Authorised warehouse keeper;
• Document Code 9121: Tax exemption (applies to imports where each instance does not exceed 40 individual carrier bags, importation for private consumption and importation of goods not subject to the tax.);
• Document code 9122: when importing plastic carrier bags with a wall thickness less than 15µm and a volume that does not exceed 7L;
• Fee code 397.

Enter the document codes in field 44, special information, attachments to the import declaration and the fee code in field 47 or the corresponding field in the electronic import declaration.

Visit the website of the Swedish Tax Authority for more information about excise duty on plastic carrier bags.