This petition was submitted during the 2015-2017 parliament
Petition Apply VAT on airfares to better fund the NHS
The NHS is underfunded; at the end of 2015/16 the NHS had a deficit of £1.85 billion. Aviation is lightly taxed but harmful, eg it impairs children's learning ability and is detrimental to wildlife. It is also exacerbating our climate crisis and in 2014 produced over 11% of the UK’s total emissions.
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Airline passengers do not pay fuel duty or VAT and APD can be as low as £13. We might think this makes annual holidays affordable but in fact undertaxed flights largely benefit affluent people who fly several times a year; 70% of flights are taken by only 15% of adults.
My petition is to apply VAT on airfares and for the additional revenue to be used to support our NHS. Most of us like an annual holiday but those of us who can afford 2 to 3 holidays each year can also afford to pay more tax.
This petition closed early because of a General Election Find out more on the Petitions Committee website
28 signatures
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10,000 signatures required to get a government response