International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

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� if one fails to deregister, comply with regulations, produce records and
information, or render returns or full payment on time they may be subject to a
£250 penalty;
� if one is a non-resident tax payer and fails to obtain Customs’ approval to
appoint a tax representative they may be subject to a £10,000 penalty;
� if discovered that one had under-declared or over-claimed credit on the return
they may be liable to pay a penalty equal to 5% of the amount of levy underdeclared
or over-declared;
� if one is an unregistered customer and a genuine error resulting in an under
declaration by the registered supplier results, one may be liable to a penalty of
105% of the value of the levy; or
� if one evades the levy, one takes or omit to take any action, and the conduct
involves dishonesty, one will render themselves liable to a penalty equal to the
amount of levy evaded or sought to be evaded plus the actual amount of levy
evaded’. 806
In Denmark possible sanctions are fines and ultimately withdrawal of registration
which would result in immediate termination of trading rights. It is also thought that
the success of the system is due to an element of self-discipline where those who are
found to have evaded the policy are considered negatively by the general public. 807
46.12 Lessons Learned
When designing the policy, consideration has to be given as to the price differential to
be established. Few countries have based this on environmental damages, though
such an assessment is less than straightforward where aggregates are concerned. 808
In the Czech Republic (where the tax was not introduced with respect to waste) the
tax on aggregates was introduced at a low level creating very little price differential
between virgin and recycled aggregate. As a result, as might have been anticipated,
there has been very limited impact upon behaviour, and hence, recycling rates. 809
806 Sonnevera International Corporation (2006) Construction, Renovation and Demolition Waste
Materials: Opportunities for Waste Reduction and Diversion,
http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/7703.pdf
807 Danish Environmental Protection Agency (1999) Economic Instruments in Environmental Protection
in Denmark.
808 The experience of the UK in this context was that a contingent valuation study was undertaken
which was re-done, and then criticised by some well known environmental economists for failing to
understand, for example, the difference between marginal and total impacts. It can be argued that the
impact of reducing aggregates extraction are, at the margin, likely to be rather small because much of
the externality caused is associated with the disamenity of ‘the quarry’ rather than the impact of the
marginal tonne.
809 European Environment Agency (2008) Effectiveness of Environmental Taxes and Charges for
Managing Sand, Gravel and Rock Extraction in Selected EU Countries, Accessed 23 rd October 2008,
International Review of Waste Policy: Annexes