Yet another tax gets added... in France

[Soundguy]

Quote: "Passengers boarding planes in France are now paying a new tax on their tickets to help the world's poor, after the measure came into effect on the weekend. The tax.... adds a surcharge of between one and 40 euros (1.25 and 50 dollars) depending on the destination and class of seat."

http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060702104216.1lh2ue8o.html

 

[Mal]

Great!

Donations to charitable causes should be directly given by the donor, not forced on them by a 3rd party.

I have the same gripe against hotel chains and their $1US / Day "donation" to their charity of choice.

(Oh, and in case anyone thinks I don't donate to charities, you are horribly mistaken. This forum is not the place to discuss this however).

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Another reason not to use Air France for getting around europe.

 

[Dave Noble]

Another reason not to use Air France for getting around europe.

Why? The tax is for flying out of France , not for flying on AF

Dave

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Why? The tax is for flying out of France , not for flying on AF

Dave

Because most times in Europe I have to connect. I have a choice of hubs to connect in. If I'm going to be fined for connecting in CDG then I can easily choose to connect elsewhere. (Same thing potentially with LHR baggage changes.)

 

[Dave Noble]

Because most times in Europe I have to connect. I have a choice of hubs to connect in. If I'm going to be fined for connecting in CDG then I can easily choose to connect elsewhere. (Same thing potentially with LHR baggage changes.)

That is fair enough, but you referred to avoiding Air France, not to avoiding France. I couldn't see the rationale to avoiding AF as a carrier

Dave

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Sorry for not being clearer.

Wonder if flights from BSL/MLH would get the fine? (For those not aware Basel/Mulhouse airport straddles the border of France and Switzerland, and very near the German border also.)

 

[Mal]

At least they have a reasonable "in transit" examption:

" Passengers who make a stopover in France of less than 12 hours, or who stay longer because of delays, are exempt."

Although, I wonder how many TA's / Airlines would automatically not add it for a stopover vs adding it.

 

[NM]

I wonder if you can claim this donation as a tax deduction? Most of my charitable donations are tax deductible, allowing me to be more generous (i.e. the government is effectively donating almost half of the amount). But somehow I can't see the ATO permitting such a claim for an expense imposed by the French.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I wonder if you can claim this donation as a tax deduction? Most of my charitable donations are tax deductible, allowing me to be more generous (i.e. the government is effectively donating almost half of the amount). But somehow I can't see the ATO permitting such a claim for an expense imposed by the French.

Are you a French taxpayer?

 

[NM]

Are you a French taxpayer?

Thankfully not!

 

[one9]

Singling out one industry is not the way to go.

Why chose the airline industry? Why not chose the fuel stations? Or the supermarkets? or people buying new cars?

Assuming people who fly have more money and can spare it for charity is an assumption that may not be correct. A grandma may have saved up for years to be able to take a flight to see her grandchildren in some other part of the country/world.

If a government wants to force a tax or fee on people, it should be put accross all industries or should be based on income.

 

[Dave Noble]

If a government wants to force a tax or fee on people, it should be put accross all industries or should be based on income.

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

 

[NM]

Singling out one industry is not the way to go.

Why chose the airline industry? Why not chose the fuel stations? Or the supermarkets? or people buying new cars?

Assuming people who fly have more money and can spare it for charity is an assumption that may not be correct. A grandma may have saved up for years to be able to take a flight to see her grandchildren in some other part of the country/world.

If a government wants to force a tax or fee on people, it should be put across all industries or should be based on income.

And I suspect a significant number of people flying have their tickets purchased by their employer, so its a stealth tax on corporates as well. I guess the French believe they can grab money from a wider audience than just their own citizens this way. Poor form in my book.

 

[one9]

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.

 

[dajop]

If I remember correctly, wasn't there a push last year sometime for the implementation of this "poverty alleviation" style tax to be placed on all air tickets in the EU? Something that came out on the celebrity push for greater focus from the G7, 8 (or whatever number it is now) on dealing with world poverty.

 

[bambbbam2]

Did anyone else see the woman on Sunrise the other morning?

She has just completed a study of giving and charities in Australia. She made some interesting comments, one I liked is that there are 20 Children's Cancer charities in Oz. Each year in Oz, 600 children are diagnosed with cancer, therefore it works out to 30 per charity - just a bit inefficient!

I guess governments see the traveller as an easy mark.. what's a few $$ added to the fare? :evil:

 

[Yada Yada]

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

Just curious... where is Eggland? :mrgreen:

 

[Dave Noble]

I believe airport taxes are generally used to help pay for the airport facilities or to help reimburse the airport owners.

There are a number of taxes around that are nothing to do with airport facilities ; there are a number of countries which charge taxes which go straight to the government, the GB tax in UK is a good example of it. An economy class passenger departing UK to go to Oz gets charged GBP20 which goes straight to the government ( as well as other airport taxes )

Dave

 

[serfty]

Just curious... where is Eggland? :mrgreen:

I guess it's wot one says when trying to enunciate the word England when one has a cold!

(Some times referred to as "the ol' Dart ...")