Italian Aero Taxi Tax

Italian Aero Taxi Tax (imposta erariale sui voli dei passeggeri di aerotaxi) is levied on qualifying passenger flights arriving at or departing from Italian airports. Although primarily associated with commercial air charter operations, the tax may also apply to certain private, corporate and aircraft-management arrangements, depending on how the flights are operated and contracted.

What is Aero Taxi Tax?

Aero Taxi Tax is due for each passenger and each flight arriving at and departing from an Italian airport. The tax rate depends on the distance between the airport of departure and the final destination. Making a tech stop on the way to the final destination does not alter the distance. The following tax rates apply:

EUR 10 per passenger if distance is below 100 kilometres
EUR 100 per passenger if distance is below 1500 kilometres
EUR 200 per passenger if distance is above 1500 kilometres

Distance means great circle distance plus 95 kilometres. Great circle distance (which is the shortest distance between two points) can be determined using the Rockwell Collins online calculator.

Which flights are subject to Aero Taxi Tax?

Italian Aero Taxi Tax generally applies to passenger flights operated for payment or other economic consideration under a charter arrangement covering the entire capacity of a fixed-wing aircraft or helicopter.

However, the scope of the tax is not limited to traditional commercial charter flights. Depending on the contractual and operational arrangements, flights conducted for aircraft owners, their families or companies may also be subject to the tax, even when classified as private or non-commercial.

The Italian Revenue Agency and Italian courts consider several factors when determining whether the tax applies, including:

• Whether passengers are transported in return for payment or another economic benefit, directly or indirectly.
• Whether one customer has exclusive use of the entire aircraft, even if some seats remain unoccupied.
• Whether the flight is arranged on demand, with the customer determining the destination, date or departure time.
• Whether a separate operator provides the aircraft, crew or flight services and retains operational control.

Flights generally outside the scope of the tax include:

• Individual-seat passenger transport: Genuine passenger transport services where passengers purchase individual seats rather than chartering the entire aircraft.
• Certain private and corporate flights: Flights operated exclusively for private or internal company purposes, provided that the actual contractual and operational arrangements do not constitute a taxable charter service.

Important: A flight is not automatically exempt simply because it is described as private, non-commercial, an owner flight or a corporate flight. The tax treatment depends on the specific circumstances, and Italian court decisions have not always been consistent.

Aircraft operators should therefore assess their operations individually, particularly where aircraft management agreements, third-party operators or owner-related arrangements are involved.

How to declare and pay Aero Taxi Tax?

The deadline for the payment of Aero Taxi Tax depends on the country in which the aircraft is registered. If the aircraft is registered in a member state of the European Economic Area (EEA)* then tax must be paid by the end of the month following the month in which the flight took place. Otherwise, tax must be paid for each leg prior to departure or within 1 day of the date of arrival.

The declaration of tax is done with a simple bank transfer by clearly identifying the aircraft operator and the chargeable flight in the payee reference field. The payee reference must contain the following elements in the exact same order:

• Name of aircraft operator
• Number of passengers
• Tax band (Write “A“ if the distance is below 1500 kilometres and “B” for flights with a distance of more than 1500 kilometres)
• Tax code: 3379
• Date of arrival or departure in the format DDMMYY

Tax payments are made to "Ragioneria Generale dello Stato" using the following bank account details - BIC: BITAITRRENT, IBAN: IT48 A010 0003 2453 4800 8122 400.

* The EEA comprises all 27 EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. List of EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden