a tax on AVTUR would mess things up for sure. I guess the tricky thing is that it would have to be done unilaterally, to avoid sending a particular country's airlines to the wall. Not easy to agree on.
I hope that doesn’t happen, but it would be just deserts for some of the airlines here who, with their sympathetic friend the CAA, are trying to hammer General Aviation out of existence with the proposed new charging system. GA already pays tax on AVGAS which the airlines do not, thus the playing field is already nowhere near level. Why should i pay tax to go fly aeros in my Pitts for half an hour, but not when i jet off for my fortnight on the Costa del Diarrhoea?? Dunno....
Question. When GA planes use modern diesel engines (burning Jet A1), does the tax system still get them for fuel tax, or is it just coming out of the same hole in the ground as the airliner fuel and thus no tax is due? i bet I know the answer already…