Whereas before the tax rise, they would have paid £180 in APD.
I don't think anyone is going to cancel their annual family holiday over an extra £60, split between four people, when they're spending £1600 on flights and probably the same again on accommodation and other expenses. The country needs to hike taxes and cut spending to balance the books, and this rise seems fair enough to me.
But the tax rises often arent split over 4 people. Often they are paid for by one person paying for the family. I do agree we need to cut spending someone called Gordon Brown thought he could borrow money to cover his mistakes.
It's really tough on people who have long haul relatives.
If it encourages people to fly short haul rather than long haul then it has to be a good thing. While everyone needs a holiday, everyone does not need to fly long haul, and flying long haul for a holiday that you could just as well do short haul may be good for airlines, but is not responsible for the environment or in the long run the economy.
There is only so much fossil fuels and using them up unnecessarily is not good for the economy either.
That does not mean I support the insane implementation of this tax, I don't, it needs to be better implemented. No one likes tax but it is necessary.
Maybe families just need to be a bit more realistic and look closer to home for their holidays!
What's to stop them using a ferry or the Eurostar?!
Take the car and drive some of it. My best holiday memory is going to the World Cup in 1998, driving through Western France and camping.
Well the air taxes to France are low anyway. And flying to say Marseille is no more polluting than driving, the problem is more with distance - people flying off to Thailand several times per year.
It's really tough on people who have long haul relatives.
If it encourages people to fly short haul rather than long haul then it has to be a good thing. While everyone needs a holiday, everyone does not need to fly long haul, and flying long haul for a holiday that you could just as well do short haul may be good for airlines, but is not responsible for the environment or in the long run the economy.
There is only so much fossil fuels and using them up unnecessarily is not good for the economy either.
That does not mean I support the insane implementation of this tax, I don't, it needs to be better implemented. No one likes tax but it is necessary.
Unilateralism is just stupid. Every other country in the world is carrying on regardless. The oil isn't going to last meaningfully longer if only the UK stops using it.
It's just a convenient source of tax for the greedy government, the latest in a line of 'green' tax grabs, along with fags and petrol.
A quick rider to my last comment about rip off Britain Went shopping in Hereford yesterday .Saw a shirt in a sports shop identical to one that i bought in BassPro shop in Florida for $18 Cost in Hereford £49 YES £49 and both still made in CHINA RIP OFF BRITAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!
What really annoys me about this tax is the government pretence that it is a "green" tax, and that therefore to object to its imposition or increase is somehow irresponsible. It isn't green, of course, not a penny of it going towards developing or encouraging alternatives to air travel, even where these are feasible which often they are not. But then I guess that someone has to pay for the banks which were "too big to fail" and are now apparently "too big to tax."
But then the "green" con has worked before, so why not again? We were encouraged (at taxpayers' expense) to scrap older cars with higher CO2 emissions despite the fact that the manufacture of their replacements would consume more energy and produce more pollution in their manufacture than the "bad" cars would during the rest of their useful lives. Many of those which were not scrapped now pay higher road tax as a punishment. But we mustn't complain, rational argument is no antidote to political correctness.
I wonder what will be taxed next in the interests of the environment? I hope George isn't familiar with the Beatles' lyrics:
If you drive a car - I’ll tax the street;
If you try to sit - I’ll tax your seat;
If you get too cold - I’ll tax the heat;
If you take a walk - I'll tax your feet.
If this were really a green tax, it would be high on trips where an alternative exists (eg London to Paris by train) and low where no alternative exists (eg London to Sao Paulo).
--
ageingboomer, you have reminded me of the Ferengi Commerce Authority:
to sit costs 3 slip of latinum
to stand costs 1 slip
asking a question, like why are both charged for, costs 1 slip
enjoy the 40 flights of stairs, because you won't be able to afford the lift
The airline industry £0.00 tax on the fuel they use.
Whilst the British motorist pays 80p per litre tax on for every litre of fuel. Given that the average motorist does 10,000 miles per year, it adds to £1100 worth of tax (assuming a car does 32mpg).
We would be paying a lot of less fuel tax, if the airline industry paid for their share of fuel tax.
In anycase, it is wrong to have no fuel duty, we are waisting precious oil our resource on cheap flights, rather then conserving fuel supplies. If we carry on as we do, the price of fuel is bound to shoot up as we will have to compete with demands from emerging economies like China and India who have great appetite for fuel....
Replies
But the tax rises often arent split over 4 people. Often they are paid for by one person paying for the family. I do agree we need to cut spending someone called Gordon Brown thought he could borrow money to cover his mistakes.
If it encourages people to fly short haul rather than long haul then it has to be a good thing. While everyone needs a holiday, everyone does not need to fly long haul, and flying long haul for a holiday that you could just as well do short haul may be good for airlines, but is not responsible for the environment or in the long run the economy.
There is only so much fossil fuels and using them up unnecessarily is not good for the economy either.
That does not mean I support the insane implementation of this tax, I don't, it needs to be better implemented. No one likes tax but it is necessary.
Well the air taxes to France are low anyway. And flying to say Marseille is no more polluting than driving, the problem is more with distance - people flying off to Thailand several times per year.
Unilateralism is just stupid. Every other country in the world is carrying on regardless. The oil isn't going to last meaningfully longer if only the UK stops using it.
It's just a convenient source of tax for the greedy government, the latest in a line of 'green' tax grabs, along with fags and petrol.
But then the "green" con has worked before, so why not again? We were encouraged (at taxpayers' expense) to scrap older cars with higher CO2 emissions despite the fact that the manufacture of their replacements would consume more energy and produce more pollution in their manufacture than the "bad" cars would during the rest of their useful lives. Many of those which were not scrapped now pay higher road tax as a punishment. But we mustn't complain, rational argument is no antidote to political correctness.
I wonder what will be taxed next in the interests of the environment? I hope George isn't familiar with the Beatles' lyrics:
If you drive a car - I’ll tax the street;
If you try to sit - I’ll tax your seat;
If you get too cold - I’ll tax the heat;
If you take a walk - I'll tax your feet.
--
ageingboomer, you have reminded me of the Ferengi Commerce Authority:
to sit costs 3 slip of latinum
to stand costs 1 slip
asking a question, like why are both charged for, costs 1 slip
enjoy the 40 flights of stairs, because you won't be able to afford the lift
Whilst the British motorist pays 80p per litre tax on for every litre of fuel. Given that the average motorist does 10,000 miles per year, it adds to £1100 worth of tax (assuming a car does 32mpg).
We would be paying a lot of less fuel tax, if the airline industry paid for their share of fuel tax.
In anycase, it is wrong to have no fuel duty, we are waisting precious oil our resource on cheap flights, rather then conserving fuel supplies. If we carry on as we do, the price of fuel is bound to shoot up as we will have to compete with demands from emerging economies like China and India who have great appetite for fuel....