A PRIVATE jet tax could raise £250,000 every time former US President Donald Trump visits Scotland, the Scottish Greens have said.
The levy would be based on the introduction of a new “super rate” of Air Departure Tax for private jet passengers, which would be set at 10 times the current top rate of the tax.
It comes after it was announced that Trump’s new golf course in Aberdeenshire is set to open next summer.
Air Passenger Duty was devolved to Scotland, and in 2017 an act was passed in Holyrood to replace it with a Scottish Air Departure Tax.
However, work to replace the tax has not yet begun, with the Scottish Greens laying the blame on the UK Government for its “refusal” to allow lifeline island flights – which are much smaller than commercial planes – to be exempted from the tax.
The distance between Scotland and Trump’s Mar A Lago home in Florida puts it in Band B for Air Passenger Duty, with the top rate of the tax currently set at £581 per passenger.
A new “super rate” – which the Scottish Greens say reflects the increased pollution level of private jets compared to commercial flights – would be set at £5800.
The party said that as Trump’s Boeing 757 is capable of carrying 43 passengers, a flight to Scotland would result in a £249,400 fee.
‘Keeping Trump out is a gift you couldn’t put a price tag on’
Ross Greer (below), the party’s transport spokesperson, said individual efforts to tackle climate change were being “undermined by the super-rich flying across the world in private jets”.
“It's time these elites were taxed in line with the massive damage their lifestyle is doing to the planet,” he said.
“Whether it’s Trump jetting between his golf courses, CEOs visiting their yachts or Rishi Sunak flying between parts of the UK with perfectly good rail lines, there’s no justification for it when we can all see the effects of climate breakdown as they devastate communities across the planet.”
Greer continued: “A private jet tax would raise money for our public services but its real aim would be to keep the super-rich and their destructive toys on the ground.
“It would of course have the added bonus of keeping the notoriously tight and cash-strapped Donald Trump out of Scotland.
“That's a gift you couldn't even begin to put a price tag on.”
