Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Cable Doubles Holiday Tax

In the LibDem manifesto, there is a commitment to introduce a new Plane tax to replace Air Passenger Duty. Sounds harmless enough, you may think, but you'd be wrong.

Taking a family of four, the current short haul (0-2000 miles) tax of £88 would rise to £199.76. The same family flying long haul would see their tax rising from £400-440 to £908-998.80. That rise of 127.5% is quite nasty, but the rate rose last November so compared to last Summer, a family flying this year would face a 187.4% increase in tax if Vince Cable became Chancellor.

I am sure there are a lot of holidaymakers who will wish to thank Vince. By voting Conservative.

* APD was taking £1.9bn up to 1 November last year. The new rate (from 1 Nov) is expected to raise £2.4bn. The LibDem proposal is to add a further £3.06bn, so I averaged the increase over the current rate bands.

28 comments:

eoghan said...

Which areas of the Tory manifesto would be better at helping cut the deficit?

Simon Lewis said...

Well no one will be going anywhere so it doesn't matter..:-)

Anonymous said...

And when you include the policy to raise the income tax threshold, you realise that the family of four flying shorthaul would still be an average of £1200 a year better off, while the family flying longhaul would still be better off by about £400 a year.

And anybody that flies more than that won't be better off, which means they'll be paying for the massive environmental damage caused by planes. Or they might even consider using the train (probably not to America, though).

Uncle Marvo said...

So they'll take the car, I guess. Very good for the carbon emissions, taking a car instead of a 100th of a plane.

Not.

p smith said...

Iain, it's a sad spectacle to see you in full campaign mode.

No one is going to care about holiday tax after the election when whoever is in power finally has to be honest about their plans for reducing the deficit. A LibDem holiday tax will be as a drip of p*ss in a lagoon of excretia.

Bill Kristol-Balls said...

But seeing as the average family would be between £700 and £1400 better off after their income tax cut it still works out well for them.

forfar-loon said...

Iain, I'm not sure plane tax is high on people's list of worries in the very week when no flights are operating! Nice try though.

Given the glorious sunshine of late, maybe there's something in the manifesto about Winter Fuels Allowance that you can try to scare those potential Lib Dem voters with? :oD

Joe said...

I'm sure he'll also receive a lot of thanks from British hoteliers, restauranteurs, owners of tourist attractions, National Trust volunteers etc etc who will welcome the enormous boost to the UK's tourism industry.

And if it starts to wean us from our destructive obsession with the plane, that's an added good.

Cantstandcant said...

Well said, Eoghan and P Smith. I am afraid the Tories (sadly, Iain included) just don't get it. Who really is going to care about relatively small increases paid probably once or twice a year, set against the enormity of the problems we face - and one of Osborne, Darling or, yes really, Cable is going to have to confront on May 7. Good to know you are presumably promising no tax increases post May 6 under Cameron Govt! Rather harder to believe.

Village Bookworm said...

Actually Iain, it is the sort of thing we should be contemplating, if we are serious about reducing the deficit and cutting NI/jobs taxes.

Steve Tierney said...

Lot of Lib Dems here today. Are their own sites too dull - do you think?

Anonymous said...

So Many Libdems here. That was what happened my borough and they won and are going to be thrown out in this election .. Cable was adviser to Jogn Smith, a Labour Councillor in Glasgow and was a Labour Candidate. Even those days, they used to call Cable: Tax and spend Cable.

Anonymous said...

Iain, you sound absolutely desperate!

It's funny to see how out of touch you are with public opinion. Most people will welcome this news - it's better than increasing NICs and it might make people decide to holiday in the UK and spend their money here!

I think the Tories are living in Cloud Cuckoo land. I think Labour are just spent. I welcome any form of coalition government in this election.

The thought of a Labour majority or a Conservative majority is simply unbearable.

We all know there will be a hung parliament - and I'm thrilled by that prospect. Who knows...it's quite possible the LibDems will keep gaining the might 'MO' and Nick Clegg could be our next PM. It's certainly a real possibility ...

Ryan said...

Perhaps the Tories should advertise on board passes at airports in the South West and Midlands.

edjoyce said...

Ok then - what are the Conservatives planning to tax instead. People working ! Yes that is the official policy of the Conservative party. Tax people earning under £10,000 so that wealthy people can travel by air. This is the worst Tory campaign in living memory.

edjoyce said...

Ok then - what are the Conservatives planning to tax instead. People working ! Yes that is the official policy of the Conservative party. Tax people earning under £10,000 so that wealthy people can travel by air. This is the worst Tory campaign in living memory.

Wrinkled Weasel said...

Those with short memories will be interested to know that APT was first proposed by one Ken Clark.

You may find a brief history of this tax, and the way it was plundered subsequently by Gordon Brown, at

http://wrinkledweasel.blogspot.com/2010/03/taxation-and-boiling-frog-theory.html

Penfold said...

They also want airlines to pay fuel duty on Avtar, which adds incremental costs to flying.

The Lib-Dems are very much like the Greens, they do not want a mobile population, so restrict movement by extortionate taxation. This will leave their wealthy backers free to travel without the hoi polloi sharing planes and spoiling the event.

The working man will have to pay extra for his Costa holiday, I hope these voters are made aware of this. Also, they will have to pay extra to get to work, as car ownership is anathema to the L-D's.

Clegg will pop his own bubble with a raft of plane (sic) stupid policies which will see the rank and file reject him, and that includes middle england his current supporters. They will find their 3 hols a year priced out and that will also probably include little Crispin's jaunt to the continent for the school trip.

HampsteadOwl said...

Something tells me that this may not be the best time ever to campaign on the issue of a tax on air travel.

Anonymous said...

These days these threads is populated by Libdem supporters as Cleggy and Cable are poised to accept Brown as the PM. With their 30% share not moving up, they will get 100 MPs, as Mandy says today, they will join Brown

Martin S said...

Next week St Vince the Monkly one will suggest controls on the amount of money holiday makers can take out of the country! Then it will be just like it was in the old days.

RonLiddle said...

> So they'll take the car, I
> guess. Very good for the carbon
> emissions, taking a car instead
> of a 100th of a plane.


Fuel efficient car's hit around 45 miles per gallon.

A plane will set you back 10 miles per gallon per passenger. Based on a family of 4, that's 2.5 miles per gallon.

And in terms of carbon emissions, 100 miles will set you back:

Plane - 90 kg
Car - 30 kg
Train - 20 kg

Enlightened Despot said...

RonLiddle 5.26 pm

Where do you get your figure of 10 mpg per air passenger? The real figure is more like 100 mpg for a typical high load UK-Florida flight. Per passenger, airliners are more efficient than cars, but overall they burn a lot of fuel per journey. Much less than the automotive sector, but it's still a lot.

Unknown said...

Do your calculations allow for the Liberal's plane per duty plan including air freight, which at present is not taxed on the same basis according to their manifesto? Can you show your workings here?

RonLiddle said...

> The real figure is more like 100
> mpg for a typical high load
> UK-Florida flight. Per passenger,
> airliners are more efficient than
> cars, but overall they burn a lot
> of fuel per journey. Much less
> than the automotive sector, but
> it's still a lot.

UK to Florida? That would be a long haul flight benefiting from the winds and earth rotation? And not exactly a journey you'd make by car. Also, bear in mind that the majority of planes are only 80% full, even less for long haul.

I've no idea how you came to the conclusion that lifting a few tonnes 35,000 feet into the air was more efficient than the friction between tyres and road.

Anonymous said...

Did you know?

Vince Cable was formerly a Labour politician. Stood for Labour in Glasgow in 1970. Failed and became a Labour Glasgow Councillor. Was a special industry advisor to the Labour government in the 1970s. Tried to get the Labour nomination for Hampstead in 1979. Switched from Labour only in 1982 by joining the SDP. Thence to the LibDems.
Vote Yellow Get Brown. Isn't it?

Unknown said...

Iain, you have disingenuously used the Business Class rates of APD -- seats in economy class are around 50% cheaper in terms of APD.

This doesn't change your percentage terms, but the numbers are a lot less scary.

Enlightened Despot said...

Yes, King7865765, you are right, but even at the APD rate for Economy Class, Iain's family of four would currently pay £44 for a short flight and £220 for a long one. Very roughly, the LibDems would make them pay £100 and £500. Farewell to the holidaymaker vote unless the LDs can manage to keep a lid on this good news.