atmosphere
14th Aug 2009, 18:18
Thursday 13 August 2009
Flightpay - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to abolish proposed increased taxation of aircrew subsistance/flight allowances.”
Details of Petition:
“Aircrew Subsistance/Flight pay is paid to cabin and flight crews to cover crew members direct costs incured whilst on duty away from base. (Food & Beverage, taxi’s etc) We already have to contend with the escalating inflation at overseas destinations and poor exchange rates-especially the Euro. Taxation of these allowances has already been increased over the past two decades. Cabin Crew, as the lower paid workers in this sector will be the ones to suffer most.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
Thank you for your e-petition.
Flight duty allowances (FDAs) are paid, by airlines to flight crew staying away from home, to cover such incidental expenses as the cost of meals. They are a commercial agreement between the airline and its employees. FDAs are taxable in the same way as other earnings.
Airlines have, over the years, made administrative agreements, called dispensations, with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) whereby parts of the earnings can be paid tax-free to cover allowable expenses incurred by or on behalf of an airline’s employees. There have been changes over the years in the way airlines conduct their operations and inconsistencies have developed in the correct tax treatment of the expenses included in each dispensation. Although there is no new scheme being introduced for taxing these earnings and allowances, HMRC has been reviewing them to ensure that the tax-free element is correct.
In a large number of cases, FDAs were regarded as covering employees’ tax-deductible expenses and were therefore paid without tax. The HMRC exercise is concerned solely with establishing the correct non-taxable amount of earnings and allowances to be included in the dispensation.
Flightpay - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to abolish proposed increased taxation of aircrew subsistance/flight allowances.”
Details of Petition:
“Aircrew Subsistance/Flight pay is paid to cabin and flight crews to cover crew members direct costs incured whilst on duty away from base. (Food & Beverage, taxi’s etc) We already have to contend with the escalating inflation at overseas destinations and poor exchange rates-especially the Euro. Taxation of these allowances has already been increased over the past two decades. Cabin Crew, as the lower paid workers in this sector will be the ones to suffer most.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
Thank you for your e-petition.
Flight duty allowances (FDAs) are paid, by airlines to flight crew staying away from home, to cover such incidental expenses as the cost of meals. They are a commercial agreement between the airline and its employees. FDAs are taxable in the same way as other earnings.
Airlines have, over the years, made administrative agreements, called dispensations, with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) whereby parts of the earnings can be paid tax-free to cover allowable expenses incurred by or on behalf of an airline’s employees. There have been changes over the years in the way airlines conduct their operations and inconsistencies have developed in the correct tax treatment of the expenses included in each dispensation. Although there is no new scheme being introduced for taxing these earnings and allowances, HMRC has been reviewing them to ensure that the tax-free element is correct.
In a large number of cases, FDAs were regarded as covering employees’ tax-deductible expenses and were therefore paid without tax. The HMRC exercise is concerned solely with establishing the correct non-taxable amount of earnings and allowances to be included in the dispensation.