New plane tax plans may be scrapped
25.06.08
A senior minister has hinted the Treasury may retreat on plans to replace Air Passenger Duty with a tax on aircraft, Travel Weekly reports. It says that Parliamentary under-secretary for transport Jim Fitzpatrick told a conference on yesterday: ‘Difficulties surround the decision. There are strong arguments that we should not proceed with the transition.’
The Treasury is working on proposals for an aircraft tax to replace APD from November 2009. Final details are to be unveiled in October in time for tour operators to price the tax into their brochures, and provisional details were expected by the end of July. But the travel magazine reports that the Treasury is 'way behind schedule and has taken no decisions'. It quotes 'industry sources' saying that it is already too late for an October announcement.
Any retreat will dismay tour operators and airlines such as easyJet, which lobbied hard for a switch from APD to a tax that would reflect the relative carbon dioxide emissions of aircraft. However, Mr Fitzpatrick told the Sustainable Future for Aviation Conference in London that the government is under pressure from major airlines. He said: ‘There are very strong arguments from non-charter airlines that the proposals will penalise them.’
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