As part of activities to monitor the proper fulfillment of tax obligations, the Guardia di Finanza Group of Lamezia Terme, together with officers from the local Air Section, carried out an economic and financial police inspection of numerous air taxi and helicopter taxi operators who operated, in the years between 2021 and 2023, at the local airport.
In this context, the Lamezia Guardia di Finanza found that the operators failed to pay the so-called “luxury tax” to the Treasury, as required by Decree Law of December 6, 2011, no. 201 (“Provisions for the taxation of luxury cars, boats, and aircraft,” converted, with amendments, by Law of December 22, 2011, no. 214), imposed by the Italian State on private flights used for passenger transport.
Introduced in 2011, the tax is calculated based on the distance flown: 10 euros for routes up to 100 kilometers, 100 euros for routes between 100 and 1,500 kilometers, and 200 euros beyond that threshold. The payment is the responsibility of the operator, who is required to transfer the amounts to the State. The tax is among those of an environmental nature, with the aim of limiting the polluting impact of private air transport and financing measures for environmental protection.
The inspection activity was carried out through the analysis of data obtained from the handling companies at Lamezia Terme airport regarding 115 air operators for a total of 647 flights and over 2,000 passengers transported arriving and departing from the Lamezia airport.
The checks carried out revealed that 15 national companies and 99 foreign companies collected the tax paid by passengers without transferring it to the Treasury. As a result of the verification activities, it was found that these operators defaulted for a total amount of €299,000, of which €230,000 concerned the tax due and €69,000 for additional penalties applied.
It should be noted, finally, that some of the companies cited in the reports acknowledged the correctness of the charges found and paid the amounts due to the Treasury.