Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services

Walk-in services at all DRS branch office locations remain suspended. Email DRS at drs@po.state.ct.us. Email the Priority One Taxpayer Assistance Program: DRSPriorityOne_CollectionsAssist@po.state.ct.us. Please check our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Single-Use Plastic Bag Fee – Effective August 1, 2019

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 7N and No. 7NN issued by Governor Lamont, the Plastic Bag Fee is suspended from March 26, 2020 through June 30, 2020.

Effective August 1, 2019 (cite: Public Act 19-117, § 355), retailers making sales in Connecticut of tangible personal property to the public are required to collect a $0.10 fee per single-use plastic checkout bag.

The store must indicate the number of single-use plastic checkout bags provided, and the total amount of the fee charged on any transaction receipt provided to a customer.

"Single-use checkout bag" means a plastic bag with a thickness of less than four mils that is provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale. "Single-use checkout bag" does not include: (A) a paper bag; (B) a reusable plastic bag (four mils or thicker); (C) a bag provided prior to checkout that is used only to contain meat, seafood, loose produce or other unwrapped food items; (D) a newspaper bag; or (E) a laundry or dry cleaning bag.

"Store" means any retailer, as defined in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407, that maintains a retail store within the state and sells tangible personal property directly to the public.

Any single-use plastic bag fees collected by a store are excluded from gross receipts for purposes of sales and use taxes. Each store must report all single-use checkout bag fees it collects to the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) with its sales tax return.

Municipalities are permitted to enact or enforce an ordinance concerning single-use checkout bags made of plastic, provided such ordinance is as restrictive or more restrictive as the provisions of Public Act 19-117, § 355. Municipalities are also permitted to enact or enforce an ordinance concerning single-use checkout bags made of paper, including, but not limited to, enabling each store to charge a fee for any such bag distributed to a customer. Any such municipal fees are subject to sales and use taxes.

The provisions of Public Act 19-117, § 355 are effective August 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021, after which date, single-use plastic checkout bags are scheduled to be banned.

DRS has compiled a list of questions it has received concerning implementation of the single-use bag fee, and has issued an Office of the Commissioner Guidance Regarding the Single-Use Plastic Bag Fee.