BARA targets Passenger Movement Charge

The Board of Airline Represenatatives of Australia (BARA) points to the Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) as "a hidden tax on tourism".

The PMC is a charge of A$47 on every international passenger departing Australis, which is collected by airlines and remitted to the Federal Government.

The charge is ostensibly to recover the costs of border control functions such as customs, immigration and quarantine.

BARA is concerned that the Government is looking to increase the PMC as part of its strategy to reduce the budget deficit.

BARA believes that, despite calls for reform of the PMC to reduce the impact of the charge on the aviation and tourism industries in Australia, the Government will not be able to walk away from the revenue involved.

BARA says that, "The Government steadfastly refuses to acknowledge the obvious fact that the only way to reduce the impact of the PMC on tourism is to abolish it.

"The PMC now collects over $600 million per annum.

"It generates very substantial excess funds for the Government, collecting well in excess of the costs of the border control functions.

"To the extent that the PMC over-recovers the costs of border control functions it represents a tax on airline travellers.

"The Australian National Audit Office Audit Report No 12 (2000) stated that the PMC 'is now applied partly as a general revenue raising source and no longer solely linked to cost recovery of Customs, Immigration and Quarantine services'."

BARA simply wants the PMC to be abolished.