Is packing tape taxed under the UK Plastic Packaging Tax? The 2027-28 rate and the evidence you need

A roll of brown packing tape is a small thing. But a UK importer who brings in a few containers of it a year can still cross the 10-tonne line for the UK Plastic Packaging Tax.

So does tape count?

In most cases, yes. A BOPP tape with less than 30% recycled plastic is chargeable at £228.82 per tonne today and, as announced at Budget 2026, £236.56 per tonne from 1 April 2027. The tax is paid by the UK maker or importer, not by us in India. The evidence for it has to come from the supplier.

Checked against official sources on 28 October 2026.

We make tape in Jaipur and export to 20+ countries. I have written this for UK importers and distributors of tape, and for anyone who seals cartons that end up in the UK. I am not a tax adviser, so confirm your own position with one.

Does HMRC treat tape as packaging?

HMRC does not publish a line that says "carton sealing tape is chargeable". It gives a test and a list of examples. Both point the same way.

The test is in HMRC guidance, Work out which packaging is subject to Plastic Packaging Tax (last updated 28 August 2026). A plastic packaging component is a product designed to be suitable for use in the supply chain. It must do one or more of these things for goods: contain, protect, handle, present or deliver them. A tape that closes a shipping box protects the goods and helps deliver them.

The examples are in HMRC's packaging in and out of scope of Plastic Packaging Tax (last updated 12 October 2022). "Sticky tape" appears there by name, as single-use consumer packaging. So do pallet wrap and label release liners.

My reading is that a roll of plastic carton tape sold for packing goods is a plastic packaging component.

HMRC has not written a tape example, so that stays my reading until HMRC says more. Treat it the same way.

Who pays, and from which tonne

The tax falls on UK manufacturers and importers of finished plastic packaging components. HMRC guidance, Decide if you need to register for Plastic Packaging Tax, sets two tests. You must register if you have made or imported 10 tonnes or more in the last 12 months, or expect to in the next 30 days.

A component is "finished" after its last substantial modification. In the HMRC examples, extruding, laminating and printing film are substantial modifications, while cutting film to size is not. A roll of tape is coated, sometimes printed, then slit and wound before it leaves our plant. Nothing changes it after that except being stuck on a box. So for imported rolls, the UK importer is the one who accounts for it, from the day the goods clear customs.

Three cases need care:

1. Tape on cartons of imported goods. Imported filled packaging is treated as finished, so the tape on those cartons is part of the plastic packaging you import.
2. The transport packaging exemption. HMRC's exemption guidance names pallet wrap and retaining straps used to import goods. Tape is not named, and "normal packaging around a sales unit" is excluded. Ask your adviser before you rely on it for tape.
3. Exempt components still count. Rolls with 30% recycled plastic are not charged, but they count towards the 10-tonne threshold.

Is the roll "plastic" if the adhesive is not?

A component made of several materials is plastic when it contains more plastic by weight than any other single substance, such as paper, aluminium or wood. Additives count as part of the plastic.

HMRC adds a rule for adhesives. You must check whether the adhesive itself is plastic. If it is not, you must not treat it as "any other substance" when you do the comparison.

For the common tapes, that works out like this:

1. BOPP film with an acrylic adhesive is plastic by any reading. The film is polypropylene and an acrylic adhesive is itself a polymer.
2. PVC tape is plastic.
3. Kraft paper tape is usually not plastic packaging, because the paper is normally the heaviest single material. Check the grams per square metre of paper and adhesive to be sure.

There is one more consequence.

If the adhesive is plastic, it is part of "all plastic elements" in the recycled-content sum below. A tape with recycled film and virgin adhesive has to clear 30% across both.

How to weigh a roll

A good halwai weighs the mithai, not the dabba. Do the same with tape. The tax is on the plastic, so you need the weight of tape on the roll, not the roll plus its cardboard core.

HMRC guidance, How to work out the weight of packaging (last updated 30 June 2023), allows several methods. You can weigh each component, use a sample weight, calculate from material inputs, use a verified specification or weigh in bulk. A sample weight can be used for every run while the specification and materials stay the same. Estimates are not a recognised method unless HMRC agrees first.

The guidance does not mention cores.

Agree with your adviser whether the core is in or out, then use the same method every time.

You can check the figure from any supplier yourself, and I would, ours included. Weigh five full rolls of one SKU on a scale that reads to 1 gram. Keep the empty cores as the rolls finish and weigh those too. The difference, divided by five, is your tape weight per roll.

A worked example shows the scale. The figures here are assumed for the arithmetic, not a specification:

So a UK importer reaches 10 tonnes at roughly 71,000 such rolls a year. A busy distributor can pass that. Your own figure will differ, so use the weights from your supplier, not mine.

Recycled content: the 30% line and the April 2027 change

HMRC says plastic packaging components containing 30% or more recycled plastic are not chargeable. Its worked examples divide the recycled plastic weight by the total weight of all plastic elements. All plastic is assumed to be virgin unless there is evidence that recycled material was used.

Three dates matter here:

1. From 1 April 2027, pre-consumer waste stops counting. The same HMRC page says that before that date, reprocessed pre-consumer waste can be used as recycled plastic. The government decided in 2024 to stop counting pre-consumer waste from the date mass balance comes in.
2. Also from 1 April 2027, chemically recycled plastic can be counted through a certified mass balance approach. The draft regulations were published on 6 October 2026 for consultation until 21 December 2026, so they are still a draft.
3. From 1 April 2030, businesses claiming the 30% exemption will need mandatory certification, as confirmed in the Budget 2026 overview of tax legislation and rates (paragraph 2.26).

The 2027-28 rate comes from the same Budget. Annex A of the Budget 2026 overview of tax legislation and rates (28 October 2026) gives £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026 and £236.56 per tonne from 1 April 2027. The 2027 rate is announced, and it becomes law through the Finance Bill.

If your "recycled" tape relies on in-house or factory regrind, ask your supplier now how much of it is post-consumer.

After 31 March 2027, the pre-consumer part stops helping.

I should also be clear about our own position. Our GRS certificate covers only packing sacks and bags made with 50 to 100% post-consumer recycled polyethylene. It does not cover tape. If you need a 30% recycled tape with evidence that will stand up to HMRC, ask us first what we can document for that product.

What to ask your tape supplier for

These five requests cover most of what a UK importer needs:

1. The layer structure of each SKU: backing, adhesive and their grams per square metre.
2. The net tape weight per roll and the core weight, measured, with the method stated.
3. Whether the adhesive is a polymer, in writing.
4. The recycled content of film and adhesive, split into pre-consumer and post-consumer, with the evidence behind it.
5. A batch number on every carton, so the evidence can be matched to each shipment.

HMRC also says a new assessment is needed when a specification or material changes. Ask your supplier to tell you when either changes, before the goods ship.

The cost side of this tax, per order and per year, is a separate exercise. Here I have kept to what the tape is and what the paperwork must show.

If you import tape from us into the UK, write to us through the contact page with your SKU list. We will send the layer structure and weights for each one, so your first return under the 2027-28 rate starts from measured numbers.