Training for pilots and maintenance engineers in the UK should be made more accessible to potential students by removing the 17.5% value added tax (VAT) from the price of training courses, the UK parliamentary transport committee has recommended in a recent report.
The recommendation has been welcomed by the UK General Aviation Manufacturers and Traders Association, which has long campaigned for the removal of VAT from training costs, claiming that the UK is unique in imposing this penalty on trainees.
The transport committee, in a wide-ranging report on safety and its oversight, notes the shortage of maintenance engineers - particularly in general aviation - and the forecast shortage of airline pilots.
While saying that this is largely a problem that the industries themselves should address, the committee says: "We recommend that the Government should take steps to ensure that access to training and practice for general aviation pilots is not unduly limited, either by cost or by planning constraints. We believe that all pilots should be given incentives to undergo training and, accordingly, recommend that VAT should not be charged for appropriate training courses".
In a separate recommendation, the committee voices concern about the shortage of maintenance engineers and states that trainees should not be charged VAT.
Source: Flight International
