Private jet air passenger duty and VAT: how UK charter is taxed

What is private jet air passenger duty?

Private jet air passenger duty is the same tax that applies to airline tickets: a per-passenger duty on flights departing from UK airports, collected by the operator and paid to HMRC. Private flights are not exempt. What differs is which rate applies, because the rate depends on the aircraft and the seat, not on how much the trip cost.

APD applies to what the law calls a chargeable aircraft. Under section 29 of the Finance Act that created APD, that is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to carry people besides the flight crew, with an authorised take-off weight of at least 5.7 tonnes, that runs on kerosene. Most business jets are above 5.7 tonnes. Some smaller turboprops and very light jets are below it, and flights on those aircraft are outside APD altogether. If you're flying something small, ask the operator for the aircraft's authorised take-off weight.

This guide uses the current rates, meaning those in force at the time of writing, from HMRC's rates and allowances page on GOV.UK. Rates normally change each April, so always check GOV.UK for the figures that apply on your travel date.

Current APD rates and bands

APD has four destination bands, set by the distance from London to the capital city of the destination country, and three rates within each band.

Current rates per passenger for flights departing the UK (excluding Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands), as published on GOV.UK at the time of writing. HMRC has already published the rates that apply from the next 1 April.

For private flying out of London, nearly every European route falls in band A, including Nice, Geneva, Ibiza and the Greek islands. The US East Coast, the Caribbean and the Gulf are band B. Band C covers the furthest destinations, such as Australia.

Which rate does a private jet pay?

The three rates work like this on GOV.UK:

• Reduced rate: travel in the lowest class on the aircraft, where the seat pitch is under 40 inches.
• Standard rate: any other class of travel, or where the seat pitch is over 40 inches.
• Higher rate: aircraft of 20 tonnes or more that are equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers.

So, at current rates, the business jet APD rate depends first on weight. Large-cabin jets of 20 tonnes or more pay the higher rate for every passenger, whatever the seat. Below 20 tonnes, which takes in light, midsize and many super-midsize jets, the reduced or standard rate applies depending on seat pitch.

HMRC's guidance explains how to measure seat pitch on a business jet. For facing club seats, you measure between the back cushions of the opposing seats in their upright positions and divide by two. For bench or side-facing seats, you measure from the back cushion to where the aisle reasonably begins. Where an aircraft has some seats above 40 inches and some below, the standard rate applies to as many passengers as there are seats over 40 inches, and the reduced rate to the rest. In practice, the generous seating on most business jets means the standard rate is common, but it depends on the cabin layout.

You won't need to measure anything yourself. The operator works out the rate and should show APD as its own line on your quote.

APD on a private jet: three worked examples

Using the current rates above:

• London to Nice, light jet, six passengers (see private jet hire Nice). Band A, aircraft well under 20 tonnes. At the standard rate of £32, the duty is £192 for the whole group; if some seats measure under 40 inches, some passengers pay the £15 reduced rate instead.
• London to Geneva, midsize jet, eight passengers (see private jet hire Geneva). Band A again. At the standard rate, £256 in total. Against a one-way light or midsize charter of roughly £7,000–£12,000 including positioning (indicative; the live figure is confirmed on enquiry), APD is a small line.
• London to New York, large-cabin jet of over 20 tonnes, eight passengers (see private jet hire New York). Band B at the higher rate of £1,097 per passenger: £8,776 in duty. On a long-haul trip in a big jet, APD becomes a meaningful part of the bill. Our transatlantic private jet cost guide puts it in context.

APD is only due on departures from UK airports. The flight from Nice back to London doesn't carry UK APD, though other countries may have their own departure taxes.

The higher rate for private jets is changing

At the time of writing, HMRC has confirmed that the higher rate will be extended to cover private and business jets far more widely. According to GOV.UK's policy paper on the extension of the higher rate, the measure will include all aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more used as a private or business jet, with effect for passengers carried on or after 1 April in the next tax year. It also says the exemption for child passengers will not apply to business jets.

In plain terms: today, a light or midsize jet pays the reduced or standard rate. Once the change takes effect, most business jets will pay the higher rate, which for band A is currently £142 per passenger rather than £15 or £32. On a six-passenger light-jet trip to Nice, that would take the APD line from about £192 to about £852 at today's band A higher rate. The rates that will actually apply are those on GOV.UK at the time of travel.

Scotland is also preparing its own replacement for APD. The Scottish Government's consultation on Air Departure Tax says it plans to match the UK's rates, bands and private jet threshold in the first year, and is seeking views on a later supplement for private jet travel.

APD rates from the next 1 April

HMRC publishes the following year's rates in advance, and the figures that take effect from the next 1 April are already on GOV.UK's rates page. They are the same three rates, uplifted by a few per cent. The bigger change for private flyers is not in this table but in which column applies: from the same date, most business jets move into the higher column.

Rates per passenger from the next 1 April for flights departing the UK (excluding Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands), as published on GOV.UK at the time of writing.

Private jet air passenger duty before and after the change

The clearest way to see the effect is to price the same trips twice: once at the rates in force now, and once at next year's published higher rate, which is the column most business jets will fall into. The "now" figures assume the standard rate for light and midsize jets, which is common given business-jet seat pitch.

Duty per trip, one-way UK departure only, at current and published next-year GOV.UK rates. Your operator confirms the actual rate.

Put that against the price of the flight. A London–Nice light-jet charter is roughly a two-hour flight. The flying time alone at the house light-jet band of £2,000–£3,200 an hour is about £4,000–£6,400, and positioning and fees bring a full one-way quote to roughly £9,000–£14,000; indicative, the live figure is confirmed on enquiry. Today, six passengers add £192 of duty, around 1–2% of that fare. From next April the same six add about £880, roughly 6–10%. For a large-cabin jet to New York, which already pays the higher rate, the change is only the annual uplift. The people who notice it most are groups on light and midsize jets flying short European hops, which is most private flying out of London.

Who collects APD, and what that means for you

You never pay HMRC directly. Under GOV.UK's Air Passenger Duty guidance, the operator of a fixed-wing aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more that runs on kerosene and carries passengers from a UK airport must register and pay the duty, whether or not those passengers paid to fly. That last point matters: if you charter a jet and fly guests for free, each of them is still a chargeable passenger.

The same guidance says an operator based outside the UK must appoint a fiscal representative, and that an operator flying 12 flights or fewer a year with an annual duty bill under £5,000 can use the simpler Occasional Operator Scheme. For you, the practical upshot is simple. A legitimate operator flying you out of the UK has a registered route to pay APD, and it should appear on your quote as its own line, per passenger. If a quote for a UK departure treats APD as "included" with no figure, or leaves it off, ask who is accounting for it before you pay a deposit. It is one of the quickest ways to spot a vague quote, and our guide to private jet cost per person shows how the duty changes the split across a group.

When APD is worth planning around, and when it isn't

Most of the time, tax should not decide your trip. On a short European flight in a light or midsize jet at today's rates, APD is a few hundred pounds on a bill of several thousand, and choosing a cheaper aircraft, a better-positioned operator or an empty leg saves far more. Changing your plans to dodge a £32 duty rarely makes sense.

It is worth planning around in three situations:

• Large groups on long-haul trips. Band B at the higher rate is over £1,000 a head. Eight passengers to the US East Coast is a five-figure tax line once the extension lands.
• Trips that straddle 1 April. APD is charged on passengers carried on or after the date a new rate starts, so a departure on 31 March and one on 1 April can carry different duty. If your dates are flexible either side, ask the operator to show both.
• Families. The under-two lap-child rule still applies, but the under-16 exemption, which rarely helps on a business jet anyway, is set to be switched off for business jets entirely, so every child with a seat is a chargeable passenger. Our guide to flying a private jet with kids covers the practical side.

What APD doesn't do is change the case for or against flying private. If the trip only works on a heavily discounted empty leg, the duty is a small part of the total; if it only works with the duty removed, it probably doesn't work.

Exemptions: who doesn't pay APD

A few exemptions matter for private flying. Each has conditions, so the operator will confirm whether one applies:

• Small aircraft. Aircraft under 5.7 tonnes authorised take-off weight are not chargeable aircraft at all, under section 29.
• Infants. Under section 31 of the same Act, a child under two who is not allocated their own seat is not a chargeable passenger.
• Children under 16. Section 31 exempts under-16s only where they travel in the lowest class. On a business jet where every seat is over 40 inches, that exemption is unlikely to help, and the policy paper confirms it won't apply to business jets after the higher-rate change.
• Crew. The flight crew working the flight are not passengers for APD.
• Northern Ireland and the Highlands and Islands. Direct long-haul flights from Northern Ireland pay no duty for bands B and C, and departures from the Scottish Highlands and Islands region are treated separately. Both are covered on GOV.UK.

VAT on private jet charter

VAT on private jet charter is set out in HMRC's VAT Notice 744A on passenger transport. An aircraft supplied with its crew to carry passengers counts as passenger transport, which is how a normal charter works. From there, the rules split by journey:

• International flights. Transport from the UK to a place outside it, or the other way round, is zero-rated for the part supplied in the UK. The parts of the journey outside the UK are outside the scope of UK VAT, though other countries' taxes can apply.
• UK domestic flights in aircraft with at least 10 seats. Zero-rated. HMRC counts seats including those for the crew.
• UK domestic flights in aircraft with fewer than 10 seats. Standard-rated, unless another relief applies. Scheduled flights are zero-rated whatever the aircraft size, but a private charter isn't scheduled.
• Pleasure flights. Flights sold as entertainment, or "flights to nowhere" that return to the departure airport, are standard-rated.

Two points catch people out. First, a light jet with seven passenger seats and two crew seats has nine seats in total, so a domestic charter on it carries VAT. A larger jet with ten or more seats in total doesn't. Second, HMRC treats APD as part of the fare, so where VAT applies to a domestic flight, it applies to the APD element too. Whether a business can recover that VAT is a separate question for its own advisers.

How APD and VAT should appear on a quote

A properly itemised UK charter quote shows APD per passenger, with the band and rate, and states the VAT treatment for each leg. If a quote for a UK departure doesn't mention APD at all, ask before you book, not after. Our guide to private jet hidden fees walks through the other lines on a quote, and our private jet charter cost guide covers the hourly rates they sit on top of.

Do empty legs pay APD and VAT?

Yes. Empty legs are normal passenger flights once you are aboard, so APD applies to each passenger on a departure from a UK airport and the VAT rules above apply in the same way. What an empty leg removes is the cost of positioning the aircraft, not the tax. On a short European leg the tax is a small part of the saving; on a large-cabin transatlantic leg at the higher rate, it is worth factoring in. Our empty leg flights UK guide covers the UK routes where legs appear most.

Frequently asked questions