French Airport Tax
French Airport Tax (Tarif de sûreté et de sécurité et Tarif de péréquation aéroportuaire de la Taxe sur le transport aérien de passagers) is charged on the carriage of passengers, freight or mail, from an aerodrome situated on French territory (Metropolitan France, French overseas departments and collectivities), on board commercially operated flights.
What is French Airport Tax?
Airport Tax applies to passenger and cargo flights departing on board commercial aircraft from an aerodrome situated on French territory (Metropolitan France, French overseas departments and collectivities). Airports with traffic below a yearly average of 5000 units (1 unit equals 1 passenger or 100 kg of freight) are outside of the scope of the scheme. All other airports are grouped into three classes depending on traffic volume. The tax rate for freight and mail is €1 per tonne, while the tax rate for passengers depends on the airport they embarked from.
Class 1 comprises the big three Parisian airports (LFPB, LFPG or LFPO). The per passenger rate for class 1 airports amounts to € 11.80. Class 2 airports (such as Lyon, Marseilles, Nice or Toulouse) charge between € 8.90 and € 9.40 per passenger. The rate for most of the class 3 airports is € 17.20 per passenger. Regardless which class an airport is assigned to, an additional charge of € 0.90 per passenger is added to the above listed rates.
Did you know?
Airport Tax is not to be confounded with the landing and passenger charges paid through the handler to the airport operator. The competent authority administering Airport Tax is the French Civil Aviation Authority DGAC.
Who is liable for Airport Tax?
Subject to Airport Tax are commercial operators embarking passengers on French soil. There exists no de-minimis threshold for aircraft below a certain weight. With regard to exemptions, Airport Tax follows the same rules as the French Civil Aviation Tax. It does not apply to non-commercial operators as these are exempt. Several other flight and passenger exemptions apply, most notably, the exemption of flights following a tech stop or a forced landing due to bad weather or mechanical failure. Flight crew and children below the age of two are also exempt.
Obligations under the Airport Tax?
Tax liability arises when boarding the aircraft. Regulated aircraft operators must:
- declare and pay Airport Tax by the last day of the month following the end of the accounting period. The return cycle is quarterly if the annual Airport Tax liability is below € 12,000.00. Otherwise, you have to declare and pay Airport Tax on a monthly basis.
- submit a nil declaration if during the accounting period no chargeable passengers were carried
- keep records until the last day of the third year following the year in which the tax becomes due