Isramart : Investigation reveals private jets are exempt from carbon passenger tax

Isramart news:
A new untaxed perk for carbon-busting private jet travel in the UK has been revealed by new research by the Campaign for Better Transport.

More than 67,000 flights in private jets and ‘air taxis’ last year avoided paying any tax, despite emitting up to 30 times more carbon dioxide per passenger, according to the research.

Unlike conventional passengers, who pay £11 for short haul and up to £110 for long haul flights, very small aircraft, used almost exclusively by the rich and famous are exempt.

In a recent poll for easyJet, 80% supported charging private jets the same rate of tax as conventional flights.

The Campaign has urged the Chancellor, Alastair Darling, to use the upcoming Budget to close the loophole.

Executive Director Stephen Joseph said: “It’s unfair that ordinary air passengers pay tax on their flights while highly paid business people in private jets escape scot free.

“Private jets are the most polluting way to travel, so why should they be exempt from tax when everyone else has to pay?”

According to the Campaign the government’s proposal in 2008 to replace Air Passenger Duty (APD) with a tax per plane (Aviation Duty) was accompanied by a proposal to tax fuel for small planes. However, the proposal for Aviation Duty has since been dropped.

Fuel for pleasure flights has from November 1 2008 been taxed at a rate comparable to road fuel duty (with a rebate for flights with destinations outside the UK). Fuel for business flights remains untaxed.

Passengers are exempt from APD on aircraft with an authorised take-off weight under 10 tonnes or fewer than 20 passenger seats.

Aircraft below 5.7 tonnes will be exempt from the forthcoming EU Emissions Trading System.

Each 'bizjet' passenger is on average responsible for emissions equivalent to 8 tonnes of CO2, which is approximately two thirds of the average annual emissions per person in the UK and 30 times the level for each passenger departing on a scheduled flight from London City airport.

According to flight movement data, there are currently 13,000 untaxed business jet flights a month in the skies above the UK, which equates to the equivalent of over 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 a year.

A spokesperson for the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “We suggest that no types of flight should be exempt from tax. This principle rests both on grounds of fiscal equity and climate change. It could be achieved if fuel for all aircraft not subject to APD were subject to tax.

“Given these high levels of emissions, a duty on fuel for business flights at a rate higher than road fuel duty would be appropriate; but a rate equivalent to road fuel duty might be more administratively practicable.

“There would be no international impediment to taxing fuel for business flights on domestic journeys, as is now done for pleasure flights. For overseas journeys the UK’s international obligations might entitle operators to reclaim the proportion of duty paid on fuel used in the international segments of flights.

“The distinction between business and pleasure purposes may not always be clear, so tax on fuel for flights primarily for pleasure may be evaded by being claimed for business. Taxing fuel for business flights would eliminate this possible abuse.”