Landfill Tax (Scotland) Act 2014 section 15

Weight of material disposed of

Section 15 sets out how the weight of material in a taxable landfill disposal is to be determined, giving the Scottish Ministers power to make regulations covering the methods, timing, and rules for weighing waste.

• The weight of material in a taxable disposal must be determined according to regulations made by the Scottish Ministers, which may specify rules directly, allow Revenue Scotland (the Tax Authority) to set out rules, or allow rules to be agreed between the taxpayer and a designated officer.
• The regulations may cover the method of weighing, the point in time at which weight is measured, and whether certain constituents (such as water) can be discounted from the total weight.
• Where Revenue Scotland has issued specific rules, these may be limited to particular types of disposal and may be subject to conditions; where rules have been agreed between the taxpayer and a designated officer, Revenue Scotland can withdraw those agreed rules if they no longer give an accurate weight, are not being properly followed, or for any other reason.
• If neither a Revenue Scotland specification nor an agreed set of rules applies to a particular disposal, the weight falls to be determined under default rules set out in the regulations themselves, and penalties may be imposed for failure to comply with any requirement under the regulations.