Donald Trump’s Boeing 757 would be hit with up to £250,000 in tax under plans by John Swinney’s most likely Budget partners. The Greens say a private jet tax would force the passengers on the Republican presidential candidate’s plane to stump up every time they flew from Scotland.
MSP Ross Greer said: “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 J Trump out of Scotland. That’s a gift you couldn’t even begin to put a price tag on.”
The Greens are pushing for a super tax to counter the environmental damage of the fuel-guzzling aircraft. Air Passenger Duty (APD) is levied on flights from UK airports and paid by passengers as part of their ticket price.
There were 12,911 recorded private flights to and from Scotland’s airports in 2023 and experts believe a new tax could generate £21.5m for Scotland. The Greens calculate a new charging regime, based on Oxfam figures, could raise between £240,000 and £250,000 if Trump’s jet flew from Scotland to his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida.
This would be based on the 757, which has a capacity of 43 people, being at full capacity. If the Trump Organization’s “crown jewel” took off with twenty passengers, the extra tax would come to around £115,000.
Trump has extensive business interests in Scotland through his ownership of the Turnberry and Trump International golf courses. He and his family are occasional visitors to the resorts and he has used “Trump Force One” to travel to Scotland. The former US President used the 757 in May 2023 to depart from Prestwick Airport, a trip that also included a flight to Aberdeen.
Greer said: “Most people are trying to play our part in tackling the climate crisis. Our individual efforts are all important but they are totally undermined by the super-rich flying across the world in private jets that are ten times more polluting than regular flights and fifty times worse than trains. It’s time they were taxed in line with the massive damage their lifestyle is doing to the planet.
“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 devastating communities across the planet.
“A billionaire uses 820 times as much CO2 as the average person in the UK. They do more damage to the planet before lunch than you do in a whole year.”
Swinney’s Government will unveil its draft budget in December, but SNP insiders admit privately it is unclear how they will find enough votes for it to be passed. Relations between the SNP and the Greens soured this year when former First Minister Humza Yousaf kicked the junior partners out of Government.
But the Greens are still seen as Swinney’s best option for striking a deal on his tax and spending plans. Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater told Swinney recently he had the power to introduce the levy.
Swinney replied: “I think that is a very interesting and welcome suggestion”. He added: “As for taxing private jets, I would be very much in the spirit of doing that.”
One sticking point is that the devolved replacement for APD has not come into force yet. Holyrood’s new Airport Departure Tax has not been implemented by SNP ministers over a stand-off with Westminster over the granting of Highland and Islands airports an exemption.
On the general issue of taxing private jets and yachts, Oxfam’s Climate Justice Policy Adviser Natalie Shortall said recently: “While the super-rich continue to pollute at excessive rates, it is people living in poverty – both in the UK and around the world – who have done the least to cause the climate crisis who are suffering the most from its devastating impacts.
“Further steps to better tax extreme wealth are needed to accelerate climate action and fight inequality – increasing taxes on highly polluting luxuries like private jets and superyachts is an obvious place for the Government to start. These are the kind of common-sense solutions that are urgently needed to quickly and fairly reduce emissions and raise crucial climate finance – by making the biggest and richest polluters pay.”
The Trump Organization has been contacted.
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