Reforming the Air Passenger Duty as an Environmental Tax

Abstract:     
In light of the UK Coalition Government’s announced intention to reform APD (Air Passenger Duty), this article examines the design flaws making APD an inadequate environmental tax. By identifying the misconceived consequences and environmental inefficiencies of this blunt instrument, the need for reform is shown to be overdue. Specific reform proposals are set out for a per-plane tax able to affect behaviour in a manner more closely linked to environmental objectives, including the UK’s sustainable transport policy.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 11

Keywords: Environmental tax, aviation, air passenger duty, sustainable transport, perplane tax, aviation emissions

JEL Classification: R4, Q3, Q4, P4, O3, N7, L91, L93, K3, K32, K33, K34, J6, H5, H7, H3, H2, F4, E6, E2, D91, D6, D1

Accepted Paper Series