stole this from someone
Just running the numbers on Virgin Atlantic, based on Dec 2018 figures:
- £2.7b turnover = £0 VAT (zero-rated)
- Operating profit of -£45m = £0 corporation tax (because they were loss making, presumably they paid 20% tax on past profits of £150-200m and aim to get back to this)
However...
- Salaries of £407m = £81m PAYE (20% base rate, some will be higher rate of course so this is low estimate) + £8.1m (2% national insurance)
- Air passenger duty (£150 per UK outbound long-haul flight) x 5.19m passengers (2018, Statistica) = £778.5m
Total: £867.6m tax contributions per year
Most of the media coverage I've seen looks to be about Richard Branson, but it feels like lazy journalism. Surely it's not about him, it's about saving 8,571 jobs which contribute £407m directly into the UK economy and a further £867.6m in tax to HMRC.
Let me know if I'm missing anything?