gliderone - The 3% charge is also an expense and so is actually reduced after the tax re-work. Also, please don't moan about Ryanair, especially if you are currently in paid flying work. It doesn't help anyone. Post facts please, this way we all benefit. We don't get anything out of hearing how bad you think the industry is.
Facts, so all we need are facts. O.K. For ease of calculation here are some simple approximations based on a 100,000 unit income -
100,000 – [ 3000 (3%) + 600 (VAT) ] = cost 3,600
Less tax (50%) - half of 3600 = 1,800
Yo dere. Y’ve saved 1,800. Thanks to BRK (part of the Camel Empire - but totally independent, of course).
Now for some Ryanair magic (pay attention to the “smoke and mirrors”). If your salary goes up your costs and tax relief goes up. The more the tax relief the better off you are. Better still, if you take out a pension for, say 10% of your salary, then you will be even better off – 10% - 10,000 and tax relief (50%) = 5,000. Now that makes a total saving of 5,000 + 1,800 = 6,800 (6.8% of your salary!!! Sign up here please…). ONLY through the munificence, kindness, charity and goodwill of Ryanair/Brookfield could such a sum be saved by pilots. Dirty smelly unions actually take your money!! This folks is a NO CONTEST.
Small print: hard though it is to believe in the cool light of day, this line has actually been presented as a serious argument (in fact it is essential to “proving” that BRK pilots will be “better off” under the new arrangement by maximising their pension payments). Of course the “smoke and mirrors comes from the equivalent of the old line “I saved a fortune by spending a lot of money in the sales”, or “the more 'duty free' I buy the more money I save”. Yea, right on.
This is one everyone has to work out for themselves.