Abstract
There have been several Swedish attempts to tax the aviation sector yet none of them were successful as they were considered to clash with EU law and/or international law. A new aviation tax was introduced in 2018 as a response to ongoing climate change and the need to reduce air travelling and co2 emissions.
These two goals, reducing co2 and reducing air travelling, are not necessarily the same which may induce some confusion yet both are mentioned by the Swedish legislator in the preparatory works. The aviation tax was introduced by a government consisting of the Social Democrats and the Green Party. During the
last general election (an unprecedented long process before a government could finally be elected with a majority vote), the aviation tax was very close to being permanently repealed as the Conservative Party strongly pushed for this. In fact, the tax was officially repealed in the budget that came into place before the question of the government itself was finally resolved. Later, when the Social Democrats and the Green Party managed to obtain a majority vote, they brought back the aviation tax. Since the government, at the present time, is in a sensitive situation considering the support in the parliament, not to mention the ongoing pandemic and the effects it has had on the aviation industry it is of great interest to explore the future of it. Will it endure the great crisis, or will the Swedish Government decide to abolish it in order to incentivise the aviation sector post-COVID-19? This paper aims to analyse the future of the Swedish aviation tax through a discursive analysis considering the legal, fiscal, and political context which in it subject to at present time.
These two goals, reducing co2 and reducing air travelling, are not necessarily the same which may induce some confusion yet both are mentioned by the Swedish legislator in the preparatory works. The aviation tax was introduced by a government consisting of the Social Democrats and the Green Party. During the
last general election (an unprecedented long process before a government could finally be elected with a majority vote), the aviation tax was very close to being permanently repealed as the Conservative Party strongly pushed for this. In fact, the tax was officially repealed in the budget that came into place before the question of the government itself was finally resolved. Later, when the Social Democrats and the Green Party managed to obtain a majority vote, they brought back the aviation tax. Since the government, at the present time, is in a sensitive situation considering the support in the parliament, not to mention the ongoing pandemic and the effects it has had on the aviation industry it is of great interest to explore the future of it. Will it endure the great crisis, or will the Swedish Government decide to abolish it in order to incentivise the aviation sector post-COVID-19? This paper aims to analyse the future of the Swedish aviation tax through a discursive analysis considering the legal, fiscal, and political context which in it subject to at present time.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 2020 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |
| Event | 21st Global Conference on Environmental Taxation: Online Conference - Online Duration: 24 Sept 2020 → 25 Sept 2020 Conference number: 21 https://vermontlaw.edu/GCET21 |
Conference
| Conference | 21st Global Conference on Environmental Taxation |
|---|---|
| Number | 21 |
| Location | Online |
| Period | 24/09/2020 → 25/09/2020 |
| Internet address |
