Government Postpone Private Jet Tax

The UK Government has delayed the introduction of the Air Passenger Duty for private jet owners until 2013.

The tax is already paid by anyone flying from any UK airport on an aircraft with more than 20 seats or in excess of 10 tonnes. The tax has steadily increased over the last few years with the latest increases coming into effect in April 2012. This means that anyone who has already booked and paid for a ticket to fly after April will have to pay the new rate of Air Passenger Tax before they can board the plane.

British Airways and Virgin have criticised the fact that private jet travellers are exempt from the tax and are now given a further tax break by having the introduction of the tax pushed back until 2013. They argue that it as unfair especially as the airlines will be subjected to the tax increases next year.

Currently the tax brings in £2.4 billion to the treasury each year and is expected to rise by £400 million next year.

One former government labour minister said “This is so typical of an out-of-touch Prime Minister. On the day he announced that he would be cutting tax credits for lower earners, he chooses to give a tax break to people who spend their lives flying around in private jets. He cares more about the rich people who fund his party than he does the millions of ordinary families who are struggling to make ends meet.”

The ruling that the tax will have to be paid by passengers who bought their tickets before April has enraged some of the airlines.

“It’s like being taxed on wine that you’ve had in your fridge for the last six months or petrol that was already in the tank.” said one representative from Virgin. “This is a stealth tax, hidden from the eyes of the general public. It’s not a tax on the airlines but a tax on the ordinary person who dares to go on holiday”.

As for the tax on private jet owners in 2013, well it is also a tax on private jet charter companies too. Hundreds of small companies in the UK will now become more expensive once this tax comes into force. This in turn will lead to travellers, who wish to fly by private jet, looking abroad for a cheaper charter company instead of a UK based company. Alternatively the new tax may lead some UK companies to move abroad where they may enjoy more favourable tax rates or simply they will go under whilst trying to compete with cheaper foreign companies. Either way the Air Passenger Duty will hit the ordinary worker long before it hurts the millionaires.

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