SLfT3002 - Landfill site activities prescribed as being subject to tax
In addition to the taxable disposals covered in SLfT1002, SLfT also applies to certain activities relating to the use of materials on a landfill site. These activities are set out in The Scottish Landfill Tax (Prescribed Landfill Site Activities) Order 2014 and are referred to as ‘prescribed activities’.
Descriptions of the prescribed activities are set out in column 2 of the following table. Column 3 provides further detail about what activities are taxable and column 4 sets out related activities that are not taxable.
While no tax is due on waste which is subject to processing or sorting in the non-disposal area of a landfill site prior to the waste being subject to recovery, tax will be due if the site operator does not supply us with the information described in the guidance on requirements for non-disposals (see SLfT3011).
Table of prescribed landfill activities
| Activity Number | Description | What is taxable | What is not taxable |
| A |
The use of material to cover the disposal area during a short-term cessation in landfill disposal activity. This placing of material may be described as ‘daily cover’. The disposal area, usually the landfill void, is any area where disposals of material as waste and by way of landfill take place (see SLfT1003 and SLfT1004 respectively). |
The placing of any material on the disposal area for mainly health or environmental reasons (such as reducing nuisance and disturbance by vermin, birds or insects) as opposed to for engineering reasons (such as the exclusion of water). |
The use of mineral material, including clay:
The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| B | The use of material to create or maintain a temporary haul road. | The use of material for the construction or maintenance of roads, either within the disposal area or adjacent to it. Such roads do not have engineered features (which may include kerbs or drains) and may be made from crushed or re-used materials, such as concrete or tarmac and may be eventually subsumed into the landfill site. |
The use of material for construction or maintenance of permanent site roads. These have engineered features (which may include kerbs or drains) and have a surface that is prepared and/or finished. Permanent site roads are likely to have been constructed prior to the start of tipping operations on the site. The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| C |
The use of material to create or maintain temporary hard standing. |
The use of material for the construction or maintenance of a base on which activities such as waste recycling or treatment take place. Such bases do not have engineered features (which may include sealed drainage) and may be made from crushed or re-used materials, such as concrete or tarmac and may be eventually subsumed into the landfill site. |
The use of material for construction or maintenance of permanent hard standing. These have engineered features (which may include sealed drainage) and have a surface that is prepared and/or finished. Permanent hard standing is likely to have been constructed prior to the start of tipping operations on the site. The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| D |
The use of material to create or maintain a cell bund. |
The use of material to form a structure within the disposal area to separate units of waste, for example, to identify the operational area. |
The use of mineral material, including clay, to form separate cells on the edge of the landfill as part of the engineered containment. The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| E |
The use of material to create or maintain a temporary screening bund. |
The use of any material to create or maintain a structure, either below or above ground, with the purpose of reducing the visual or noise impact of discrete activities on a landfill site, where those activities will cease, while the wider site continues to operate. |
The use of material to create or maintain a structure that performs a function in relation to the landfill site as a whole. It is likely that this will be in place during the entire period of operation of the site as a whole. Naturally occurring material derived from the site it is used at, when used to create or maintain a temporary screening bund. The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| F |
The temporary storage of ashes (including pulverised fuel ash and furnace bottom ash). |
The storage of ashes from power generation in a facility, such as a lagoon, designed so that the ashes can be retrieved for use or for permanent disposal. |
The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| G |
The use of material placed against the drainage layer or liner of the disposal area to prevent damage to that layer or liner. |
The placing of soft material, for example household waste, to prevent damage to the drainage layer/blanket or the liner. Such material may have been sorted/processed to remove sharp or hard objects. |
The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
| H | The restoration of a landfill site. | The use of material (including site derived material) for site restoration purposes if you fail to notify us in writing of the intention to commence restoration or if the material is not deposited in the pre-notified restoration area (see SLfT3003). |
The use of material, including site-derived material, for site restoration purposes (and that consists of no more material than is reasonably required to achieve the restoration purposes) but only if you notify us in writing of the intention to commence restoration (see SLfT3004) and the material is deposited in the pre-notified restoration area (see SLfT3003). The use of material that meets all the conditions of one of the SLfT exemptions – see SLfT3005. |
For activities A to E and G, tax is due regardless of whether the material was bought for the purpose or was otherwise obtained.
If material is used for the above activities and has previously been the subject of a taxable disposal, tax is due only on the material that has not been taxed. For example, of material used to cover waste, if 40% of the material has been taxed before and 60% is new material, tax is only due on the 60%.
This is not the case if the tax on a disposal has already been paid by another operator and the disposal was then subsequently moved. In this case, the tax would be payable again.
Where material is taxable because it has been subjected to a landfill site activity which is temporary (activities B, C and E in the table above) and that material is subsequently put to a non-taxable use (but not on a landfill site except when reusing it as restoration material), credit may apply (see SLfT6010).
Ref ID
SLfT3002
Archive Date
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