TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

German Aviation Tax: IATA Criticizes German Aviation Tax Plan, Wants Plan Axed

The International Air Transport Association Tuesday criticized a plan by the German government to implement a new departure tax for the aviation industry, and said it wants the plan to be stopped.

Main Facts:

- The new aviation tax would result in a EUR1 billion annual burden on aviation in Germany.

- "This is the worst kind of short-sighted policy irresponsibility," IATA chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said at the Berlin airshow, adding there will be no environmental benefit.

- Bisignani said "it is the wrong measure at the wrong time; and it ignores the lessons learned from the failure of a similar tax in the Netherlands."