The waste disposal tax is an economic instrument that helps finance the implementation of sustainable waste management and aims to discourage the sending of waste to disposal facilities. The main features of the tax are:

• Taxable matters:This tax is levied on the sending of municipal waste to public or private controlled waste disposal facilities located in Catalonia.
• Taxpayers: Taxpayers are the local authorities that own the municipal waste management service, and municipal waste producers that do not benefit from the municipal collection service. The operators of waste disposal facilities are considered substitutes for these taxpayers and are obliged to fulfil the material and formal obligations established under Law 16/2003.
• Accrual:The tax is established at the time the holder delivers the waste to the landfill and the facility operator accepts it.
• Tax basis:: The amount of waste expressed in tonnes sent to landfill.
• Tax rate: This is €10 per tonne of waste sent of landfill. The rate is adjusted annually by means of the Catalan Finance Act.
• Tax settlement period: Taxpayers must submit a self-assessment during the first twenty calendar days of the month following that corresponding to the quarterly settlement period. The settlement period must coincide with a calendar quarter.
• Income distribution: The tax is paid by the final purchaser and at least 50% of the funds generated must be applied to the treatment of selectively collected OFMSW. The rest should be allocated to the selective collection of OFMSW, the recovery of other types of material, treatments that reduce the amount or improve the quality of the final waste sent to landfill, and to awareness-raising, environmental education or dissemination campaigns.

To describe specific aspects of how the tax operates in detail, every year the Waste Management Fund Governing Board approves a series of guides establishing criteria for applying the tax.