You cannot fail to have heard the news about the flight duty tax that has been all over the headlines recently. As people struggle to find the cash to afford a well deserved holiday this year, the recent news surrounding the backlash against the ever increasing tax is understandably not good.
The tax is now twenty six times the size it was back in 1994, which is certainly not good news for anyone. But now a big voice has joined the fight to lay into the government and demand a stop to the tax. The voice comes from the chief executive at Bristol Airport, Robert Sinclair. He said that “increases in the tax on flying risk setting back the region’s recovery,” speaking about the Bristol region in particular.
But of course this tax does not just affect one part of the country, it affects all of it. The idea of paying even more to go abroad for a well earned break, simply because of this flight duty, is becoming too much to bear. A lot of people are now referring to it as a passenger stealth tax and it is easy to see how this has been the case.
The boss of Abta has also weighed into the discussion, urging the government to think again over this tax. The government has been big on identifying the best areas in the UK that will be capable of pushing the growth in industry and in the country as a whole, and tourism has been noted as being one of them. But how will this be attractive to people when they can see the huge amount of tax they have to pay, simply to go abroad for a holiday?
Perhaps the government is trying to get more people to stay at home and spend their cash here instead of abroad. Whatever the situation may be, it is good to hear the boss of Bristol Airport weighing into the discussion. It remains to be seen though whether it does any good in the short or the long run.