Call For Vat On Airline Ticket Prices

[Rinrada]

With some EXTRAS on ticket not hitting £200 seems like we need to pay even MORE TAX

MPs call for VAT on flights as Greenhouse Gas Emissions soar

By

Andrew Pierce (with thanks)

VAT should be imposed on all international air tickets from Britain and the rest of the European Union in an attempt to reduce greenhouse gases, a committee of MPs has said.

The 17.5 per cent increase in prices would trigger protests from airlines and passengers, but the all-party group maintains that it is a price worth paying to protect the environment.

The Environmental Audit Committee also wants Air Passenger Duty, which was frozen in the Budget for the fifth consecutive year, to rise from its average of £15.

It proposes new taxes on flights within the EU, and a government levy on domestic flights for the first time.

The committee also said that cars with large engines which produce the most carbon emissions should be more heavily taxed, with drivers of the worst polluters paying up to £1,800 a year car tax.

Drivers of gas-guzzling cars such as the 4 X 4 Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon currently pay less vehicle excise duty than owners of smaller cars producing less emissions. ..

...issarn run-a-round

Emissions from road transport were up by 10 per cent, but those from international flights from the UK rose by 111 per cent.

Transport accounted for 33 per cent of carbon emissions in 2004, up from 27 per cent in 1990.

The figures from the committee confirm that aviation is the fastest-growing source of greenhouse gases, with flights within Europe on course to double by 2020 and triple by 2030.

The report states: “It is scandalous that governments around the world have failed to grasp the nettle of taxing aviation fuel. It is equally scandalous that no member state within the EU charges VAT on international air tickets. While this would require co-ordination across the EU, individual states are free to impose VAT on domestic tickets.

“The Government has the power to increase taxes on domestic flights: it should do so, and as soon as possible. It should further work to conclude bilateral agreements with European partners to levy additional taxes on flights between them. The Government has no excuse for not raising air passenger duty.

“Air passenger duty should be raised, so as to slow the growth of aviation and stabilise its absolute level of emissions.”

The committee said that ministers should join their European counterparts to develop additional taxes on EU flights that could be used to design more energy-efficient aircraft.

The Treasury said that it was waiting for European consensus, but at the time of the Budget it said that a freeze in air passenger duty would result in a small increase in carbon emissions and local air pollutants.

Tim Yeo, the Conservative chairman of the committee, said that drastic measures were required, and that Britain had to take the lead.

Mr Yeo conceded that a 17.5 per cent rise in prices would be difficult for many to accept.

[baboon]

All your money belongs to your Government/EU. It just happens they are kind enough to let you keep some of it.

The tax is to protect the environment? Yeah, course it is.

[Maestro]

The committee also said that cars with large engines which produce the most carbon emissions should be more heavily taxed, with drivers of the worst polluters paying up to £1,800 a year car tax.

Drivers of gas-guzzling cars such as the 4 X 4 Toyota Land Cruiser Amazon currently pay less vehicle excise duty than owners of smaller cars producing less emissions. ..

What a load of rubbish! The pollution produced by a motor-car is not related to its engine size but to the quantity of fuel burnt, and this depends, aside from the engine size, on how much the car is driven and the driving style.

There is already a heavy excise tax on petrol, which is the correct way to tax polluters if that were the intention, but obviously it is not.

Having said that, here is the formula used for calculation of the annual vehicle licence tax in the part of Switzerland where I live:

((w*p)/f)+b

where:

w = weight (kg)

p = power (kW DIN)

f = factor (currently 560)

b = basic fee (currently CHF 158.00)

Interestingly, the owner’s bodyweight is not included in the calculation. Unfair!

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Maestro