Transport & Environment, the European federation that brings together the main environmental organizations of the old continent, figures at 4,610 million euros the import to which the annual tax exemptions granted by Spain to the aviation sector will increase. This figure makes our country the second economy that stops receiving the most money due to these tax privileges, only behind France. In an investigation disclosed today —available at the end of this article—, the organization estimates the total amount that the EU member states abandoned in 2022 at 34.220 million euros for maintaining the regime of application of tax exemptions to the aviation sector. .
This ‘fiscal hole’ is caused, in the organization’s opinion, by government policies that allow the airline sector not to pay taxes on the fuel it uses, or that avoids taxing value added tax (VAT) on international flights is . The lack of a tax on airline tickets or the fact that the emission rights trading system only applies to flights in the European Economic Area means that Spain is, after France, the economy that stops entering the most funds per this activity, which, however, is key to the Spanish tourism industry.
Up to 6,000 million that are not entered
Specifically, the study figures at 4,610 million euros that the State stops receiving due to this ‘fiscal gap’ compared to the 182 that it does receive in the form of VAT, since this tribute only taxes peninsular routes with a reduced rate of 10%. The study indicates that if all bills were taxed, regardless of their destination, this figure could be multiplied by 13, up to 2,440 million. To this would have to be added another 990 million if all flights paid their corresponding emission rights – Spain is an important air ‘hub’ to Latin America and, for example, those flights do not have to pay for them. The Treasury could also collect another 1,720 million if a tax on kerosene were set.
In addition, if the forecasts of increased air traffic and passenger demand are confirmed, this amount could grow by 23% to 5,980 million euros in 2025. At the European level, this revenue deficit for public coffers amounts to 4 7,100 million euros in the same year.
Intercontinental airlines, the most benefited
Transport & Environment not only focuses on the states, but also on the airlines, which also do not pay for what they emit on transoceanic or intercontinental flights. He cites as an example the case of the Spanish Iberia, whose extensive activity in Spain would make it responsible for a fifth of these exemptions. These would amount to 851 million, of which 484 correspond to taxes on kerosene and the payment for the emissions generated. The rest (367) would fall on the travelers, who would pay it on their tickets.
This ‘tax gap’ is substantially lower than that generated by some of its competitors from neighboring countries such as Air France, whose ‘gap’ amounts to 1,936 million; British Airways —from the same group, IAG—, which ‘saves’ 1,528 million; the German Lufthansa, 1,403 million; or the Dutch KLM, which should pay 1,009 million more, according to the organization. Different is the situation of the ‘giant’ of the European low-cost, Ryanair, whose activity ‘only’ would stop contributing 159 million to the continental arcades. This amount would be the lowest among the 16 airlines studied, given that most of their activity is already subject to the emission rights trading regime.
Ask to raise ticket prices
The organization, which advocates “eliminating the huge tax breaks of the air transport industry,” proposes increasing ticket prices as a way to save on carbon emissions into the atmosphere. THESE Increases Would Come Motivated by the imposition of a Tax on -kerosene, the application of a 20% to all tickets or amplilets the regime of emission rights Ara That Applies to Those Flights That Depart from the European Union, Including those of Long distance.
In case of not applying any of these measures, it is proposed to set a tax on the price of the ticket “equivalent to the country’s fiscal hole”. In the case of Spain, this would raise the price of the ticket by an average of 19 euros for national routes (which is already applied), 49 euros for routes to European destinations (including routes to the Canary Islands, which are now exempt from VAT) and 275 euros for trips outside the EU In addition, they advocate that the income collected be reinvested in promoting technologies and alternative and cleaner means of transport, such as the railway.
Environmental organizations that are part of Transport & Environment, such as Ecodes or Ecologistas en Acción, point out that this figure “is the equivalent of the annual budget of Barcelona and Valencia together, and enough to maintain the subsidy for free passes for Cercanías and Media trains Distance for almost 7 years”.
Aviation Tax Gap Report: Transportation and the Environment
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