French Solidarity Tax
French Solidarity Tax (Tarif de solidarité de la Taxe sur le transport aérien de passagers) is in addition to the Civil Aviation Tax. It applies to commercial aircraft operators departing from an airport situated on French territory (Metropolitan France, French overseas departments and collectivities).
What is Solidarity Tax?
Solidarity Tax is levied on the carriage, from an airport situated on French territory (Metropolitan France, French overseas departments and collectivities), of passengers on board commercial aircraft. It is linked together with the French Eco Tax and the amount of tax due for each qualifying passenger depends on the passenger’s final destination and the class in which he or she is traveling.
Business aircraft operators pay the lower rate because business jets have only one class of travel and, as a consequence, all passengers receive the same level of service. The lower rate is also due for passengers traveling on board a commercial airliner in the lowest class of travel. And those receiving a higher level of service, such as premium economy, business or first class passengers, must pay the higher rate. Passengers traveling to destinations in the European Economic Area (EEA)*, United Kingdom and Switzerland are currently charged at 2.63 € (lower rate) or 20.27 € (higher rate) per passenger. Passengers traveling to all other destinations pay € 7.51 (lower rate) or 63.07 € (higher rate) per passenger. Tax rates are subject to change as the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) reviews them every year.
Did you know?
Solidarity Tax is not to be confounded with the landing and passenger charges paid through the handler to the airport operator. The competent authority administering Solidarity Tax is the French Civil Aviation Authority DGAC.
Who is liable for Solidarity Tax?
Regulated are commercial aircraft operators performing scheduled or unscheduled flights. With regard to exemptions, Solidarity Tax follows the same rules as 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. It must be noted, there exists no de-minimis threshold for aircraft below a certain weight.
Obligations under the Solidarity Tax?
Tax liability arises with the operation of a qualifying flight. Regulated aircraft operators must:
- declare and pay Solidarity Tax by the last day of the month following the end of the accounting period. The return cycle is quarterly if the annual Civil Aviation Tax liability is below € 12,000.00. Otherwise, you have to declare and pay Solidarity 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
* The EEA comprises all 27 EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. List of EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden