I am astonished that this has become a slanging match against BALPA. Whenever a UK publication wants some comment from a union about an aviation matter they contact BALPA. I am certain that the comment attributed to BALPA is only a tiny portion of what was in the statement.
Anyway, what is of more concern is that fact that RYR pilots cost their employer less than many other airlines' pilots due to the fact that RYR does not cover many of the other costs which other airlines still do. Read the article to see what :
THE Irish tax authorities are to crack down on pilots working for Ryanair through service companies.
The airline uses hundreds of pilots provided by employment agencies such as Brookfield Aviation, based in Epsom, Surrey.
These agencies recruit pilots from the growing number who have set up limited companies in Ireland. Most live and work outside the republic but can legally shield a larger portion of their earnings from the taxman by setting up an Irish company. In Ireland, these self-employed pilots pay only 15% tax on their earnings.
Balpa, the British pilots’ union, estimates HM Revenue & Customs loses out on £37m a year in tax and national insurance payments from Ryanair’s UK-based agency pilots.
Ryanair benefits because it has to pay them only for hours flown. It does not have to meet the cost of sick pay, holidays or redundancy.
The Irish Air Line Pilots’ Association wrote to its members last week, warning: “The Irish tax authority has indicated that they intend to conduct more detailed audits of the company accounts of limited companies and directors who provide contracted services to a larger company or group. where services are provided by the company to just one client.”
The Irish taxman has also offered to impose a lower penalty of 10% of any tax underpayment on those who come forward to help the investigation. Pilots who agree to help only after they have been served with a “notice of audit” will be hit with a 50% penalty. Failure to make any disclosure results in a penalty of 75% to 100%.
Ryanair said: “Like many companies, Ryanair uses a mix of direct employees and contractors. All of these people are required by contract to fully comply with all Irish and EU tax rules.
“Since we and they continue to comply with all tax obligations, Ryanair will be unaffected by any such audits, although we are not aware of any such audits of Ryanair.”
Jim McAuslan, general secretary of Balpa, said: “The tower of Babel is creaking. This is something that is coming across Europe and it is a real concern.”