Comment by HWR_14
11 days ago
> that airlines do not pay any tax on fuel and no VAT on fuel. Not sure why they should not.
What a weird rule. In the US they do.
Although some of that might go back to attempts made early in aviation to handle the import taxes of airplanes landing with a half full gas tank.
If you look into the details, in the US, aviation fuel is taxed very low and for international flights not taxed at all.
"Kerosene-based jet fuel used for commercial aviation (transporting persons or property for hire) is taxed at a reduced rate of 4.4 cents per gallon." [0] That is $0.044 per galon.
For cars the tax is between $0.31-$0.74 per gallon depending on state + federal tax of $0.184 so in total somewhere between $0.494-$0.924.
That means aviation fuel is taxed 1/10-1/20 of what car fuel is taxed. So in essence aviation fuel is barely taxed.
For international flights it is tax free: "The tax code provides statutory exemptions that result in zero or near-zero tax liability for specific fuel uses. Exemptions generally apply to fuel used in foreign international flights, military aircraft, governmental entities, farming, or by nonprofit educational organizations." [0]
[0] https://legalclarity.org/federal-jet-fuel-tax-rates-exemptio...