We need higher taxes on private jets and superyachts, here’s why

Drought is pushing communities across East Africa to the brink of disaster. Monsoon rains are destroying homes in Bangladesh. Yet the world’s ultra-rich are getting even richer. What’s more, it would take about 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 percent to produce as much carbon as the richest billionaires do in a year. This is climate inequality – and it demands justice. That’s why Oxfam is calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to properly tax extreme, polluting wealth, starting with fossil-fuelled private jets and superyachts.

This would result in a triple-win for our collective, fairer future – raising up to £2 billion a year in new funds, making sure those with the broadest shoulders (and sky-high emissions) foot the ballooning climate bill, and helping to discourage these highly-polluting behaviours.

Despite repeated warnings from scientists that the world needs to urgently reduce emissions to stay within internationally agreed ‘safe’ climate limits, ownership and use of private jets and superyachts is soaring.

Private jets are so polluting that it would take the average UK citizen almost 11 years to emit as much carbon as a single long range private jet emits in a round trip from London to New York. The UK is a known hotspot for these elite airliners, with a mammoth 207,848* departures and landings last year – or 569 a day. Even more bizarrely, one of the most popular destinations from London is Paris, where a Eurostar train can connect us quickly for just a fraction of the carbon cost.

Meanwhile, although we might not have the high temperatures and crystal-clear waters of the Mediterranean Sea, superyachts are no stranger to UK shores. In fact, the UK is home to a fleet of 450 of them. Globally, the number of these enormous floating status symbols has quadrupled in the last three decades and they can burn carbon just by standing still.

It’s about time these climate-wrecking behaviours pay their fair share toward climate justice. At the upcoming UK and Scottish budgets, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Scottish Finance Secretary have the power to make that happen.

Governments around the world, including in the UK, are failing to ensure those who own and use these luxury modes of transport pay a tax rate proportionate to the harm caused by their extreme consumption.

For example, when we book a flight, we all pay a ticket tax, known as Air Passenger Duty. But someone flying on a commercial airline usually pays a far greater amount in tax as a proportion of their ticket than a billionaire jet-setting on a private plane. Worse, some smaller private aircraft are not even required to pay a higher rate, and some can be exempted from the tax entirely.

Even more remarkably, private aviation enjoys low to no rates of VAT or fuel tax – taxes that we are all used to paying every day. Every time someone fills up their car with petrol or diesel to get to work, they pay tax on that fuel, but private jet fuel, like all aviation fuel, is tax-free.

Superyachts, with an average market value of £4 million and annual maintenance costs around £400,000 also get an easy ride when it comes to tax receipts. Despite the harm they cause to the environment, there’s no equivalent of a vehicle tax for these floating mansions. While they are subject to VAT on the sale and a small one-time registration fee (£153) paid to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, this pales in comparison to the costs of their carbon pollution, which is paid for by lower-income countries around the world.

These realities highlight the sharp difference in how luxury transport is taxed compared to regular, everyday travel. The bottom line is that those who fly on private jets and sail on superyachts contribute little in tax relative to their environmental impact—leaving room for much-needed reform.

The taxes Oxfam is calling for could collectively generate up to £2 billion annually for the UK Treasury. This revenue would come from a combination of new taxes as well as super-charged rates of existing taxes. Only the very wealthiest fly on private jets and sail in superyachts, so these taxes target those who can most afford it and protect people on low-incomes.

Here’s how the figures break down:

Private jets

Oxfam research has shown that by just introducing a higher and more proportionate Air Passenger Duty (APD) for private jets, up to £470 million could be raised. Additional straightforward taxes on jet fuel, landing and departure slots, along with the application of VAT to private aviation, could raise up to £1.2 billion more. In Scotland, the Scottish Government could implement its own Private Jet Tax, raising over £21 million. These taxes could discourage excessive private jet usage while providing vital resources for climate initiatives.

Superyachts

An initial 20% tax on superyacht ownership could raise an estimated £360 million annually. A fair ownership tax on these emblems of extreme carbon inequality would ensure that superyacht owners contribute their share to the growing climate bill.

The £2 billion that could be raised by fairly taxing private jets and superyachts could significantly boost the UK’s international climate finance – this is money that can help communities in the Global South who are least responsible for the climate crisis to access to renewable energy or build resilience to climate impacts. For example, building flood defences that protect homes and land from damage, investing in farming technologies that are resistant to drought, or supporting communities to recover from a tropical storm.

This is not small change – £2 billion exceeds the amount the last UK Government spent on its international climate finance in 2023 (£1.8 billion). If the new UK Government is to be a trusted partner to lower-income, low-emitting countries, it must urgently step up its financial support to communities on the frontlines of the climate emergency.

Further steps to better tax extreme wealth are needed to accelerate climate action and tackle inequality, but properly taxing private jets and superyachts is a common-sense place to start. By making polluters pay we can also raise vital funds for investing in the UK’s own fair transition to a fossil free future – like supercharging community renewable energy projects or investing properly in affordable, accessible and clean public transport that benefits everyone.

The planet can no longer afford the billionaire boom – and the explosion in private jet and superyacht emissions that has accompanied it. That’s why we’re calling on the UK Government to uphold the ‘polluter pays’ principle, generate new funds for climate justice and send a clear signal that the era of extreme carbon inequality must be brought to an end.

Taxes on luxury transport must not be seen as a license to continue polluting for those who can afford to pay – instead, they must be a step toward ending these highly-polluting practices. Taxes on private jets and superyachts should escalate year on year until that happens. Tackling climate inequality is crucial to decarbonise the planet, targeting the biggest polluters first and ensuring they contribute fairly to climate justice.

A liveable future is possible – but we can no longer afford to prioritise the luxury emissions of the ultra-wealthy. Together, let’s confront this crisis collectively and demand better choices – choices that give those most affected by the climate crisis the justice and resources they are calling for. We’re at the departure gate and there is no more time for delay.

You can join our call for fair taxation of luxury transport by adding your name to our open letter to the UK Chancellor and Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance.

View the methodology for the research behind this piece.

*Includes medical, special, government and military flights.