BAR adds to plane tax criticism
28.04.08
The Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BARUK), the industry association for scheduled airlines undertaking business in the UK, has called on the Treasury to rescind its planned new Aviation Duty.
The group has slammed the Government's plans to replacement for Air Passenger Duty - currently levied per passenger - with a per plane / flight tax structured around Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW) and the distance flown from November 2009 as ‘ill-conceived’.
BARUK has provided 11 reasons why this duty should not be introduced (see the website for more details). The group believes the way forward is not via taxation but through a properly-designed emissions scheme, linked to major drivers of efficiencies through technology, operations, infrastructure and positive economic measures.
Chief executive Mike Carrivick said: ‘The proposal to introduce aviation duty is a very clumsy attempt to disguise a money-taking opportunity as an environmental initiative. Nothing could be further from reality. Money is continuing to be grabbed from airlines and their passengers, yet none of it is scheduled for any specific environmental purpose.'
‘Apart from the many legal aspects that arise, this duty would impose competition distortions and drive business away from the UK. It also fails the Treasury’s own stated principles in so many ways. The practicalities of this duty fail the theory in devastating ways; it must not be introduced.
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