Ok so why did I get my Fuel VAT back from fuel purchased at Wick Scotland and Calais France.
Maybe that is not VAT, but a fuel tax which is only charged for domestic flights. Just a guess. But in any case, it can’t be VAT that you got back.
Silvaire wrote:
VAT is a horrible concept in relation to promoting productive behavior.
Works quite well for us here in central Europe.
But really, is this VAT thing on aviation fuel worth a discussion at all? VAT makes up for 1/5 of the fuel price. Fuel is about 1/3 of the total hourly cost of a light aircraft. So VAT is 1/15 of the hourly cost. The hourly cost of a trip in a light aircraft is, depending on distance traveled, 3/4 of the total cost. The rest is landing/handling/parking fee, transportation to and from the airport, license and medical, etc. So VAT on fuel accounts for may 1/20 of the total trip cost. Even when working for a legal minimum wages hourly pay hardly worth the effort to claim it back…
Maybe that is not VAT, but a fuel tax which is only charged for domestic flights. Just a guess. But in any case, it can’t be VAT that you got back.
As I mentioned earlier, some UK airports do offer to not charge VAT if the flight is leaving the UK.
Wick in Scotland would be a good candidate for that since a lot of ferry flights pass through it. There is also Lydd EGMD which has been reported as offering that.
To me it is a mystery which VAT rule they are doing it under, but then I am just a businessman (since 1978), not an accountant 
Also, in the UK, a failure to charge VAT is a liability on the supplier, not the customer. So, at work, if we don’t charge someone VAT but should have done (e.g. because they are in the EU and gave us a VAT number which turns out to be invalid and then they do not respond to comms asking them for the right one – it happened in the distant past and we are far more careful now) then we lose the money. So if you refuel at such an airport, you are in the clear.
Fuel is about 1/3 of the total hourly cost of a light aircraft.
I think it is a lot more than 1/3.
Peter wrote:
As I mentioned earlier, some UK airports do offer to not charge VAT if the flight is leaving the UK.
So you are positively certain we’re not talking about excise duty here, but VAT? Because in the case of excise duty on fuels, it makes perfect sense to offer not to charge it in the first place to avoid the tedious process of a later excise duty drawback. And for this, the condition is that the fuel must be consumed outside of the UK.
Silvaire wrote:
The really stupid thing about VAT is that it’s also collected on labor (unlike sales tax, in general) and therefore puts a tremendous collection burden on those starting small, initially fragile service businesses. That, plus it being an additional 20% tax removed from the consumer’s already taxed income… which makes it hardly worth going to work every day. VAT is a horrible concept in relation to promoting productive behavior.Strangely enough, Sweden, which has one of the highest VAT rates in Europe, also has one of the strongest economies in Europe… And Sweden’s economy is export-driven so I don’t see what the problem with productivity would be.
Wait… We don’t have VAT on AVGAS… That must be the reason!
Peter wrote:
I think it is a lot more than 1/3.
That would depend a lot on how much you fly. For our aircraft, fuel is about 1/2 the marginal cost and 40% of the total hourly cost. Since these are club aircraft, they fixed costs are distributed over more flight hours than for a typical privately owned aircraft. 1/3 or even less seems likely in that case.
What-next wrote “Fuel is about 1/3 of the total hourly cost of a light aircraft” and I thought he meant the DOC (direct operating cost).
For me, the fuel is about 3/4 of the DOC. That’s based on 180hrs/year. The other 1/4 is the engine fund and some little bits.
Obviously if you don’t use the DOC and throw in all the costs and divide by the # of hours, a 10hr/year plane will have an almost insignificant fuel bill.
For me its 300 Euros an hour assuming 100 hours a year not including expenses such as charts, Nav updates, RR, medical, and recurrent training. Also not included is the cost of lost interest on the principle if invested properly. The fuel is 49% of that cost (in the case of the flight to Dubrovnik) and of the total 21% of trip cost, consists of airport fees and charges along with C&I charges.
Peter wrote:
For me, the fuel is about 3/4 of the DOC. That’s based on 180hrs/year. The other 1/4 is the engine fund and some little bits.
I cant question your figures but you seem to be lucky with you total costs. Direct Operating costs do not include engine, prop, and avionics reserves.
According to a recent pirep eddh.de, handling alone is now 100€ for an SEP, bringing the total (without pax) now up to 165€…
