A company purchasing non-reusable plastic packaging within the EU and selling it in Spain has enquired whether it can apply for an exemption or recover the tax if the packaging is intended for specific uses (medicines, medical devices, etc.). The Directorate General for Taxes (DGT) indicates that, since the final use is unknown at the time of purchase, the exemption cannot be applied immediately; however, the company is entitled to request a refund if it can prove the packaging is destined for an exempt use.
Question posed In relation to the Special Tax on non-reusable plastic packaging, the taxpayer wishes to know whether the packaging it acquires, holds in its warehouses, and subsequently sells to customers who use them for the purpose of containment, protection, handling, distribution, and presentation of medicines, medical devices, food for special medical purposes, hospital-use infant formula, or hazardous waste of medical origin, falls under the exemption scenarios regulated in Article 75 of the regulations governing the Special Tax on non-reusable plastic packaging, or regarding the possibility of recovering the tax accrued in the intra-Community acquisition thereof through the deductions or refunds provided for in said law.
The company cannot apply the exemption under Article 75 as it is unaware of the destination of the packaging at the time of acquisition. However, pursuant to Article 81.1.e), purchasers who are not taxable persons and who prove that the destination of the products is for use as packaging for medicines, medical devices, food for special medical purposes, hospital-use infant formula, or hazardous waste of medical origin, shall be entitled to request a refund of the tax paid.