Tax

[Airprox]

How is it, that with the PFA Coaching scheme the Inland Revenue has granted that monies payed to the coach is to be deemed expenses and thus non taxable?

A PFA Coach who could be a PPL and not legally able to receive renumberation recieves (I think) £20 per flight. The Coach could organise 4 flights a day receiving £80 tax free!

I know the intention is to cover costs and the average Coach will only fly once a week, but thats not the point.

I examine whenever I am required. I don't do as much as I would like; but every year I have to submit a tax return as a self employed person.

Its not fair to instructors who earn a small salary after large training costs to get their qualifications.

[tacpot]

The PFA has obviously argued that the nature of the coaching scheme means that the coaches are a) not likely to fly very often and b) that any money they receive is likely to be very small. Whereas the CAA will has shown the Revenue the scale of charges for flight tests and discussed typical utilisation rates for examiners. The fact you are not typical does not get away from the fact that as a licensed examiner, you are operating in a very different regime to the PFA coach.

[distaff_beancounter]

Airprox
I understand that the Inland Revenue (IR) has given the PFA an Extra Statutory Concession (ESA) in this case. It was probably on the basis that the average PFA coach would incur expenses, that would nornally be tax allowable, in excess of the £20.00 charged. Such allowable expenses would include the costs of travel from the coach's home to/from the relevant airfield. For travel by car, the IR will usually accept up to 40p per mile, in these circumstances.

Self-employed examiners, who charge full flight test fees (say £100+ per test?) can also claim all tax allowable expenses, against such income, when submitting Tax Returns. Allowable expenses could include travel to/from airfield, CAA medicals, instructor renewal tests, instruments rating renewals, membership fees to AOPA, replacement headsets & other equipment, AERADS & other manuals & textbooks, and anything else directly related to that source of income.

So, on average, against a test fee of £100, an examiner may well have more than £20 of tax allowable expenses. :)