Ending tax breaks on private jets could raise £2.7bn, new analysis reveals
Closing tax space meaning some richest By paying just a fraction of the tax rate ordinary airline customers pay, passengers could raise £2.7bn a year in incentives for the Treasury. lower emissionsCampaigners said this.
Climate charity Possible, which is proposing tax reforms, also conducted a poll showing that two-thirds (67 per cent) of the public would support introducing fairer tax rates for private jets.
When viewed on a passenger basis, private jet travel is among the most polluting yet least taxed means of travel. Private jet travel from London to New York emits 27 times more climate-changing fossil fuels than the passenger jet economy.
The departures of around 100,000 UK private jets a year produce toxic pollution similar to Southampton’s annual emissions, according to analysis by the charity.
Even so, 22 percent of private jet passengers pay no air passenger duty (APD) and only around 25 percent pay the top rate, probability researchers said. No VAT is charged on these trips and no fuel tax is paid on private jet kerosene.
Currently APD collects around £4.2bn a year (or 0.5 per cent of HMRC tax revenues), but small increases are on the way that will raise taxes on private jet passengers to £142 for short-haul flights or £1,141 for long-haul flights; These amounts are what Available describes as “a negligible proportion of the tens of thousands of pounds per hour spent chartering a private plane”.
Instead, they say the government should increase taxes on private jet travel so that it approaches similar levels as those traveling in economy class.
They recommend:
- Increasing the APD to around 15-45 percent of the ticket price, which is still below the 25-55 percent paid by economy class passengers. This will generate up to £1.2bn a year in revenue from private passengers.
- Introduce a fuel tax on kerosene used by private jets, set at £5,295 per litre, or 10 times the normal motor fuel rate. This will equate to £1.5 billion a year.
“Taken together, they would increase the taxes paid by private jet passengers to approximately 55 to 63 percent of the ticket price. These are around the APD tax rates that economy class passengers pay on the lowest-cost seats, ensuring private jet passengers pay the same tax as the rest of us.”
Alethea Warrington, Possible’s head of aviation, said: “Private jet passengers currently pay next to nothing in tax while producing astronomical amounts of pollution on trips that only the obscenely rich can afford. In a time of cost of living and climate crises, this is simply unacceptable.”
“A fair tax rate on private jets, which ordinary people already pay for on standard economy class air travel, could raise billions of dollars each year for our vital public services.”
He added: “In this month’s Budget the chancellor faces a clear choice: will he tax the most polluting journeys taken by the richest people, or instead cut essential services such as financing warm homes that the most vulnerable rely on?”
Independent He contacted the government for comment.
