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V0025-25 10 January 2025 · SG de Impuestos Especiales y de Tributos sobre el Comercio Exterior y sobre el Medio Ambiente Criterion in force
OTRO · envases no reutilizables

Thermoformed plastic trays are packaging and their status as reusable depends on their objective configuration

A company asks whether its thermoformed plastic trays are reusable and what evidence it can provide to prove it. The DGT indicates that they are packaging and that reusability is determined by their design and not by their use, allowing any admissible means of proof.

The question raised

Question posed In relation to the excise duty on non-reusable plastic packaging, the taxpayer wishes to know whether the thermoformed plastic trays it manufactures have the status of being reusable. In the event that they do not, the taxpayer wishes to know which means of evidence are considered appropriate to prove the reusable packaging character of said thermoformed trays.

The DGT's ruling

Thermoformed plastic trays are considered packaging as they are designed to contain, protect, handle, distribute, and present goods. The status of being reusable depends on whether the product has been conceived, designed, and marketed to undergo multiple rotations or to be refilled, based on its objective configuration and not on the user's intent. To prove this, any means of evidence admissible in law may be used, including certificates from accredited entities, under the principle of free assessment of evidence.

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