British families going on holiday will pay a total of £2.4 billion in tax this year – £900 million more than in 2008.
The calculation that the average holidaymaker will be hit with a £61.12 tax bill came from the TaxPayers Alliance, citing increases in VAT, Air Passenger Duty and Insurance Premium Tax.
Overall, a family of four travelling to Spain from the UK this summer will face an average bill of £133.20 on their flights and holiday purchases.
A family of four travelling to Florida from the UK will pay an average bill of £253.20.
“Items such as clothes are subject to VAT, whilst travel insurance purchases are hit by Insurance Premium Tax (IPT),” the TaxPayers alliance said.
“The relative cost of ticket taxes in the UK is the highest in the developed world.”
The report’s findings come as the Scottish government pledged to cut APD in Scotland by 50% between 2018 and 2021.
Since 2008, when The TaxPayers’ Alliance began compiling data, taxes on holidays have increased by more than £900 million.
The alliance renewed calls for APD to be abolished, saying: “Even though it is often touted as an environmental tax, it was never introduced for that purpose. Furthermore, it is duplicated by a number of other policy interventions.”
Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of The TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Families across the UK work hard and save every year so they can enjoy a week away in the sun.
“So hard-pressed taxpayers have every right to be angry that the taxman chases them all the way to the departure gate to squeeze that little bit extra from their budgets.
“Not only is APD too high, it hits those on the lowest incomes the hardest making it more difficult for hard-working people to get a well deserved break.
“Politicians in Holyrood and Stormont understand the benefits of scrapping APD and it is about time that the politicians in Westminster did too, so that a holiday doesn’t end up as the reserve of the richest families.”
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of the British Air Transport Association, said: “APD is a departure tax on the hard-pressed British traveller.
“It is the highest levy of its kind in Europe – by a long way – and the Treasury should be upfront about why it is prepared to see families in this country pay substantially more to take a well-earned break than their counterparts in places like France or Germany.
“Flight taxes of this kind – in the post-Brexit world – should be seen as an anomaly and the government should follow the lead of the Scottish government and announce a major reduction sooner rather than later.”