Mr Earn

I've posted this one here, as its probably more applicable to the Australian flying community

I'm starting to get horrified, at the amount of Tax we are paying to travel..just purchased a cheap ticket online SYDOOL and 40% of its TAX.

I don't mind paying tax's though its getting a bit silly now, the GOVT has its hands in all our pockets.

A concerned MR Earn.

thadocta

Some of it is "tax", some of it isn't (even though it is in the "tax" section of the ticket).

GST is tax. The noise levy isn't, so it incurs GST (the GST on the noise levy is a "tax").

The Ansett levy isn't a tax, despite the government umming and ahhing over whether or not it will eventually go to Ansett or be retained by the government.

Since you mentioned SYD-OOL, I presume you are not referring to the International Terminal usage charge - this is not a tax either, since it is levied by a private company (admittedly, 100% owned by the federal government).

So you are really not paying that much *tax* on tickets - really, you aren't.

Dave

AshleyF

Think of it as a surcharge....

whughes3

The least that could be done is that the powers-that-be should insist on the *full* price of airline tickets being advertised, rather than 'base price + taxes'. After all, it is illegal to advertise other prices as '$xxx + GST', so something similar should apply here. That would give the airlines an incentive to resist these charges, if nothing else.

The thing that puzzles me is how the *arrivals* tax at SYD international got through! Some years ago when the government tried to bring this in, as I recall the airlines said 'stuff you, collect it yourself' which proved totally impractical of course, so the whole idea was dropped: what was different this time I wonder?

thadocta

There is NO arrivals tax at Sydney International. There is a charge which is levied - by the airport - on every passenger which goes through the terminal, whether they be arriving or departing. Since it is imposed by the airport (and not by the government) it is not a tax, and therefore cannot be changed by exerting political pressure (which is what happened a few years back - btw, it was not avoided, check your next international ticket, there is a tax called the "Passenger Movement Charge, forget the code for it, but it will be on your ticket).

The only way they will be able to avoid this charge, imposed by a private company (albeit 100% owned by the government, but a private company nevertheless) is to not fly into Sydney, something they will not even contemplate doing.

Dave

Mr Earn

Well I don't mind paying a movement charge if the $$$ is going back into the Airport and for the upkeep of the terminal, as I think Sydney Airport is pretty good on comparision to our other domestic airports.

Though if that money is not going back into the infrastructure and into the shareholders pockets, I will not be happy.

whughes3

Well, call it an 'impost' then to avoid the semantics of whether or not it's a 'tax'.
The fact remains that it is exorbitant and levied by a de-facto monopoly, and cannot practically be avoided. Given that Sydney international is, even in its post-Olympic form, no better than Melbourne or Brisbane IMHO, I repeat my previous assertion that it's a ripoff!

Bundy Bear

Just booked a return ticket Sydney-Melbourne, separately on Qantas rede deals page.
Base price $70.00 + GST and other taxes came to:
Total fare for all flights: 98.31 Australian Dollars that was for MEL TO SYD.

And this one was SYD-MEL;

AIR FARE : AUD 70.00
TAX : AUD 10.00AB 6.60YQ 7.66UO
AUSTRALIAN GST INCLUDED: AUD ( 7.66UO)
TOTAL : AUD 94.26

How did they work that out.

Also these 2 flights were 1 day advance purchase for the first and 2 days advance purchase for the 2nd segment SO CHEAP IS OUT THERE IF YOU ARE FLEXIBLE AND LUCKY.


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Indecision is the key to flexibility

QantasAllTheWay

It is totally ridiculous ! To fly from Aust to the US return via sydney now cost over $200 in tax ! this is a rip-off and something has to be done about it.

fakecd

Sorry to bring up old thread. I usually heng out on Cathay Thread, and I'm newbie here.

I just checked up the price for my flight from SYD-OOL, and I found 35% of base ticket fare becomes tax.

Base, Tax, Total
150.00 + 57.71 x 1 Adult = 207.71

I can see where the GST is coming from, but what else is included in this ridiculous surcharges? Are there anyways to reduce them?

Thanks