Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 May 2024
218. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Finance the details of his engagement at EU level with regard to revising the EU energy tax directive to require the aviation industry to pay excise duty and carbon tax on jet fuel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22674/24]
View answerIreland’s excise duty treatment of fuel used for air navigation is governed by European Union (EU) law as set out in Directive 2003/96/EC on the taxation of energy products and electricity, commonly known as the Energy Tax Directive (ETD). The provisions of the current ETD relating to aviation fuels are transposed into national law in Finance Act 1999 (as amended), which provides for the application of excise duty in the form of Mineral Oil Tax (MOT) to liquid fuels used for motor and heating purposes.
Under the current ETD, Member States must tax all fuels used for non-commercial aviation purposes. In line with EU law, MOT is applied to light oil (aviation gasoline) and heavy oil (jet fuel/Jet A1/jet kerosene) used for private pleasure flying. Private pleasure flying is defined as the use of an aircraft by its owner or the natural or legal person who enjoys the use either through hire or through any other means, for other than commercial purposes and, in particular, other than for the carriage of passengers or goods or for the supply of services for consideration or for the purposes of public authorities. The current rate of MOT for light oil used for private pleasure flying is €638.91 per 1,000 litres and for heavy oil is €551.22 per 1,000 litres.
With regard to light oil used for commercial air navigation, the current ETD gives Member States the option to fully or partially relieve the relevant excise duty. MOT law currently provides for a partial exemption for aviation gasoline used for all commercial air navigation and an effective rate of €406.64 per 1,000 litres applies.
Heavy oil is the most commonly used fuel type in commercial air navigation and the ETD currently obliges all Member States to exempt heavy oil used for intra-Community and international air transport purposes. A Member State may waive this exemption for intra-community flights but only where it has entered into a bilateral agreement with another Member State to tax fuel. No such agreements are currently in place across the EU. Regarding heavy oil used for commercial domestic air navigation, the ETD allows Member States to exempt such fuel use fully or partially. Currently, Ireland’s MOT law provides for a full MOT relief for heavy oil used for all commercial air navigation, including domestic, intra-community, and international.
In July 2021, as part of the Fit for 55 Package, the Commission published a proposal to revise the Energy Tax Directive. The taxation of intra-community flights forms part of this proposal. While Ireland is supportive of the underlying intention of the ETD proposal, we like many other Member States do not have a final position on how we should transition to a taxation regime for aviation fuel. This is because this matter is proving to be very contentious as there are a number of countries who oppose the taxation of aviation fuel in any circumstances, whilst there are others who wish a minimum transition period. As the ETD file requires unanimity, this has made it very difficult to make any progress on the taxation of aviation fuel issue.
