Dunnes Stores told to pay €8.53m tax bill tied to plastic bag levy

The Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) has ruled that Dunnes Stores must pay an amended €8.53 million Revenue Commissioners tax bill concerning the plastic bag levy, down from the €36.57 million net aggregate assessment served on the retailer by the Revenue Commissioners for the environmental levy in 2009.

A new 60-page TAC ruling on the 15-year-long tax dispute reveals that Revenue wrote to the TAC in November 2021 to state that it had reduced the total amount of the levy bill on Dunnes Stores by €28 million from €36.57 million to €8.53 million.

In its November 2021 letter to TAC, Revenue stated that the bill had been reduced after a detailed review of the calculations supporting the assessments. The TAC ruling does not name Dunnes Stores.

The initial bill included plastic bags supplied at the checkout and the revised assessment now concerned only ‘flimsy’ bags that are generally made available to customers at appropriate points throughout a supermarket for food hygiene and safety purposes to contain products such as fish, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables.

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In the tax row, Dunnes Stores and Revenue were in agreement on the quantum of €8.53 million owed if the TAC was to find that the bags at issue are not ‘excepted bags’ under the relevant Waste Management (Environmental Levy) Plastic Bags Regulations 2001.

The bill concerns €4.6 million for July 2004 to June 2005 and €3.88 million for July 2005 to June 2006.

In its appeal against the revised Revenue bill of €8.53 million at the TAC, Dunnes Stores argued that that no amounts were due in respect of the levy in respect of the plastic bags at issue.

Commissioner Claire Millrine has found, after a one-day hearing into the dispute in May of this year, that the plastic bag at issue are not exempt from the levy and the assessment should stand after finding that the bags are not ‘excepted bags’ under the regulations.

In the initial aggregate €36.57 million bill, Revenue had given credit for payments of €15.3 million by Dunnes concerning the bag levy.

The TAC ruling comes four years after Dunnes Stores lost its Supreme Court appeal concerning the validity of laws under which the Revenue Commissioners raised the tax assessments of €36.5 million.

Ms Millrine stated that neither Dunnes nor Revenue had samples of the plastic bags at issue.

The dispute may yet be ultimately decided by the High Court as the TAC ruling discloses that it has been requested to state and sign a case for the opinion of the High Court in respect of the determination.