Osborne ‘admits air passengers are cash cows’
Chancellor George Osborne has admitted that air passenger duty is a tax to swell government coffers rather than an environmental initiative.
In a letter leaked to the Daily Mail, the newspaper claims Osborne described the tax as "fundamentally a revenue raising duty". It had labeled by the previous Labour government as a green tax to discourage people from flying.
In the letter, written to director general of the Brussels-based Airport Council International Olivier Jankovec in August, Osborne said APD raised around £2.5bn a year.
He has already signaled a possible rise in the tax for 2012 in his autumn statement next month. However, Osborne says he intends to simplify the current system, which divides the tax into four bands according to the length of flights, on a 'revenue neutral basis'.
Business jets, which are currently excluded from APD, are expected to be included in the tax from next year.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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