Dave Noble said:
Why? France is surely free to tax people in France as it sees fit. At least this tax , unlike the GB tax for leaving Eggland ( which like most airport taxes is not means tested ), is going to some good rather than the treasury coffers
Dave
I believe airport taxes are generally used to help pay for the airport facilities or to help reimburse the airport owners.
Charity is something that is a very special concept. It is the giving of money, time or other things to people less fortunate. It is a voluntary concept.
Taxes are a different thing. A forced giving of money for shared services and for the elected government to spend in ways they believe benefit the country.
I donate money to charities that I feel like I have some connection with. I won't donate to most charities, but will save my donations for charities that I wish to donate to. The forced donation means that people have to reduce their donations to their chosen charities. This can result in a large inefficient charity that does not have any accountability as they receive money regardless of how they perform or who they help.
If the government wants to give money to charity, they should increase their tax rate or increase their GST/sales tax. They should not single out a single industry and make that industry suffer. Would you like it if the government singled out your industry (assuming u are a small business owner) and only your industry. Making it much harder for you. Most would see this as unfair. Just because most of the airlines are large companies, does not make it not unfair for the government to penalise the airline industry.