Because fuel and oil are still not COยฒ taxed as they should.
this post was submitted on 10 Aug 2023
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No VAT or fuel tax is madness
Why is this still a thing... this should be the top issue on all political agendas
Now I don't agree with it (in fact, I am strongly opposed to the tax exemption), but the reasoning is that this way you create an 'even playing field' for aviators all across the globe. In other words: it's doesn't become more attractive to tank in Arab Gulf states, making their airlines out-compete European airlines.
I've heard this reason being mentioned, but I'm not really convinced by it. If this is of concern, you can tax the combustion of fuel on flights going in or out of the country, instead of taxing the sale of the fuel.
You mean a CO^2 ^tax? Yes please!
But this could be said about every industry, right? Oh, if we would be not be taxed, we would be more competitive worldwide.
Indeed, but aviation is slightly more mobile than say steel production. It's a bad excuse nonetheless, if you ask me!
It's really not. It's the most immobile industry there is. They literally have to land in the places where people want to go to, they can't just produce their "goods" anywhere and ship them.
Introduce tariffs on kerosene remaining in landing planes and used during the flight. Problem solved.
It's not like the plane has much of an option where to tank. Planes don't tank more than needed for any flight. I struggle to comprehend this point
I knew about the lack of a kerosene tax for flights but no VAT on international flights is just downright nuts to me.
Bread, Tampons, and books are more highly taxed than (most international) flights. Talk about distorted markets.
The article presents some good suggestions. It's pretty bonkers that taking the train across borders in Europe is more difficult and expensive than a plane
Cuz trains suck?