Boohoo has warned its suppliers they may face charges from HMRC in the future if their products do not meet recently-introduced standards.
The Manchester-headquartered fashion giant confirmed it has covered the cost of tax payments incurred by some of its suppliers since the new rules came into affect.
However, Boohoo added that "this will become the responsibility of suppliers in the near future".
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The new rules regarding plastic packaging mean items manufactured are subject to tax, unless it can be proved they contain 30% recycled material.
A Boohoo spokesman said: "In preparation for the new policy which came into effect April, around Plastic Packaging Tax, our labelling and packaging team sourced and nominated a global supplier who produces 100% certified recycled material and recyclable packaging, which complies with both our ambition and the new guidance.
"We communicated all of this to our suppliers but provided them with an option of continuing to use their own suppliers, as long as they could certify that the poly bags they use were at least 50% recycled material, made from LDPE only and a number of other standards.
"To support them in managing this change we have covered the cost of any HMRC tax payments so far, but to ensure that our suppliers are complying with our UpFront goal: By 2023 all customer garment packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable and any plastic used will contain over 50% recycled content, we have been clear that this will become the responsibility of suppliers in the near future."
A HMRC spokesperson said: "Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) came into force on 1 April 2022. It applies to plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic.
"The tax encourages the use of recycled plastic instead of new material within plastic packaging. This will create greater demand for recycled plastic, and in turn stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration.
"The Government estimates PPT will lead to around 40% more recycled plastic being used in packaging in 2022/23, compared to not introducing the tax.
"Businesses that manufacture or import plastic packaging can check if they are liable for PPT and how to register by searching ‘plastic packaging tax steps to take’ on GOV.UK."
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