It may be time to get rid of it Fiona but I wouldn't hold your breath. Anything which is a nice little earner for the government is extremely unlikely to be removed. Like you I used to collect and use airmiles, but they stopped being economically viable a long time ago.

It makes you wonder if you are doing a long haul, if it would worth checking prices flying out for Paris or Amsterdam.

When my son goes long haul he always goes via Amsterdam which can save quite a bit.

that's good to know I did once check out Lisbon as I was told it was cheaper there- some were saving hundreds but I just couldn't find any.

I'll certainly suggest my grandson checks this out for Tokyo. He's learning Japanese and is besotted with the place just now. He's off there again next week, the second time this year, and I doubt it will be his last visit.

Got a reply from Ken Clarke this morning:-

Thank you for contacting me about Air Passenger Duty. The Government appreciates the valuable role that aviation plays in enabling tourism, connecting consumers and businesses with international markets, and making long distance visits between friends and relatives possible. Whilst the recent economic environment has been challenging, we hope that the recent increase in passenger numbers will see UK airlines prosper.

The real terms increases in APD were legislated for by previous Governments. Since June 2010, despite the challenge of the budget deficit that we inherited, the Government has only legislated for increases in line with inflation. The rates rise in April 2012 does no more than maintain revenues from the duty in line with inflation over the two year period since 2010. For the majority of passengers – those flying to Europe in economy class – APD rates have only increased by £1.

We have also sought to provide airlines and passengers with extra clarity on future rates, which should help everyone concerned. The 2012 Budget set out APD rates for 2013-14, and again the rise is limited to no more than RPI inflation. The real burden of APD will therefore remain unchanged for a further year.

It is also important to understand that Ministers have to strike the right balance on taxes, and that maintaining APD revenues is necessary if the Government is to meet its overall revenue forecasts and stay on course with its deficit reduction plans.

When looking at an international comparison, unlike many other countries, the UK does not levy VAT on domestic flights. More generally, in any comparison, it is important to look at the tax picture as a whole. The UK compares favourably in international comparisons of the tax burden on consumers.

The Government is also firmly committed to ensuring aviation in the UK remains affordable and we will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the industry is able to compete in international markets. The Government has already taken firm steps to limit the rise in Air Passenger Duty and has made it clear it is monitoring the situation so that the industry is internationally competitive. For these reasons, I do not think it is necessary to call for a further review of APD.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Yours sincerely,


Kenneth Clarke

Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP

I thought it was supposed to be a green tax but this Government are using it to boose their finances.

thats all it was from the start another general tax

Carol
What a brilliant reply! An end to the pretence its all about the environment and everything to do with raising money.

this may surprise you, the figures are 2 years out of date but there is little change in the ranking

It was no surprise to me Wiz. Basically we are a bunch of whingers many of who's idea of hardship is not beiing able to have a second holiday. I have heard people's of lesser (in the sense of financial, not in any other way) nations describe us as spoilt ! We have very high expectations of what we deserve and many have been lucky enough to have them met. If my API ends up being spent on the NHS or schools I couldn't care leas really. I fact arguably if that is where the greatest need is I would prefer it to go there.

Can't even remember which party/politician/brought this tax in. And yes I know they all lie !

Well it has been boring on here lately

xxxx

Wizard HT Mod wrote:

this may surprise you, the figures are 2 years out of date but there is little change in the ranking

It's not just out of date, it's also innacurate and most of the replies will confirm this.
The author of the article seems like a school kid who has done a bit of research for an A level.

Fiona wrote:

Carol
What a brilliant reply! An end to the pretence its all about the environment and everything to do with raising money.

Only a fool would have ever believed it was for the environment, and if it was for the environment then the planes should have been taxed to provide a better incentive for reducing carbon emmissons and not the passengers.
Ken Clarke ?
Give me strength, It was KC in 1993 as the then Chancellor who said in his budget speech" I need to raise revenue, but to do so in a way which does lease damage to the economy"
He went on to introduce a new levvy on all air passengers in 1994 with the principal purpose of raising revenue from the aviation industry, but with the anticipation that there would be environmental benefits through its effects on air traffic volumes.

In the 1996 budget, which came into effect in November 1997, KC announced an increase in the rates of ADP to £10 for flights within the EEA and £20 to flights elsewhere, (from £5 and £10).

despite the challenge of the budget deficit that we inherited

Why not make the aviation industry just pay tax and duty on the fuel they use? Then APD can be scrapped?

Sanji

But APD has nothing to do with marginal tax rates.

No it's a tax on a luxury product, that we were told would be used for one purpose and is now used for other purposes. This isn't a recession it's the new reality.

It's better than putting up VAT on food like a lot of other European Country's have been forced to do like Greece and Portugal.

Fiona wrote:

But APD has nothing to do with marginal tax rates.

No, it doesn't, so I didn't see the relevance of that link, but having read it, I merely wished to point out that it was cr@p anyway.

Sanji

i though last year when Italy was having its big economic crisis it was worried it was going to lose its status of having the 6th largest GDP in Europe, so i guess we cant have gone down from Wizards table. Maybe it is all relative and we aren't going up but others slipping down. The listings now seem to say Germany, Russia, France, UK. Not sure if this is relevant to holiday tax

Doe

the relivance of the link is total tax burden per capiter ...

it give the percentage rate of tax per person [of tax paying age] and is calculated by the total tax income of the country, devided by the number of taxpayers to give an average of the total amount per capiter [£1000]

who pays and for which tax dosnt matter it is the average from the gross total [ income tax, duty,api,Vat,etc]

and Jay fowler is a respected pundit in the tax and financial world not a 6th former

Jay Fowlers figures also seem to follow what you get when you google such things as current rankings for EU GDP and the like, so it would seem his information is sound.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_European_Union

To take a marginal tax rate and to mention the NHS, Jay Fowler fails to mention the mandatory NI contributions, which after income tax is the second biggest source of revenue for the government and on top of the income tax collected.
It’s a tax on income for both the employed and the self-employed, and it goes into the central government coffers. Contrary to what most people believe, National Insurance contributions doesn’t pay for the National Health Service and state pensions ... it no more does so than income tax.

The primary rate for employee national insurance will be £7592 next year and the self-employed rate (class 4) is £7605.
Seems to me that he’s some deluded person who thinks we pay Income Tax and the marvellous NHS is thrown in for free.!

If we add them together, in reality the numbers in Jay Fowler’s imagination are quite different and the situation is quite different . Income tax would read > 0%, 20%,40%,50% - and if you now add in National Insurance contributions for employees - the taxes on employed income in the UK now reads > 0%, 32%,52% and 62%. (that’s a simplistic calculation adding 12% NIC, but it actually fluctuates further depending on your income ).

GDP per capita is not a measurement of the standard of living in an economy, it’s an indication of the country’s economic production or a measure of total national economic activity, it’s not a measurement of the personal income or the disposable income of individuals.

Sorry, but I think he got the replies he deserved.

Sanji

But doesn't Fowler quote 32% taxation for the average UK income which kind of agrees with your figures.

As for APD well I think we've always felt it was just another tax to fill the government coffers and not one to benefit the environment.