British tax on airfares and holiday goods doubles in seven years
UK residents are paying double the amount of tax on holidays and related goods than they did only seven years ago, new research has found.
Every traveller going abroad pays £62 – a massive jump from 2008 when it was only £30. The study found that the increased prices outpaced the rate of inflation and the cost of overall goods by 66%.
The MailOnline reported that the rise affected everything from air fares to tax on suntan lotion.
The research by the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) found that a family of six visiting Spain for a holiday faced an average tax bill of £195 while a family of four heading for Florida this summer had to shell out a hefty charge of £384 on both their flights and holiday-related purchases bought in Britain before leaving.
This translates as a payment in Air passenger duty (APD) of £71 over a long-haul flight and £13 for short-haul although new regulations now means U-12s are exempt from these calculations.
The payments have seen the taxman’s coffers swell to £2.4 billion from all the holiday-related taxes this year – a jump of £900 million in seven years.
TPA representative Jonathan Isaby criticised the stringent taxes on people seeking a week in the sun, claiming that it made it increasingly hard for working people to get away because of the extra cost.
