Two – Do aircraft have to have MOTs? I don’t think they do.<\/p>\n
Three – Ah, they mean Mineral Oil Tax… of course… I’ve definitely heard of that…<\/p>\n
What is MOT, and why do you need to know about it?<\/h4>\n
So, MOT (in aviation) stands for Mineral Oil Tax<\/strong>, which basically means a big tax on your fuel.<\/p>\n It also goes by the names TIPP, TICPE, fuel tax, excise tax, excise duty, fuel duty tax, oil tax… you get the idea.<\/p>\n It is usually added to the fuel price<\/strong> so you’re paying it without knowing you’re paying it.\u00a0The MOT can be as much as 43% of your fuel bill<\/strong>, so if you don’t know about it you might want to.<\/p>\n Good news though – you might be able to reclaim some of it.<\/p>\n The rules seems to be that if you are one of the following then yes, you probably can:<\/p>\n Some countries specify that you must be a ‘non-established aircraft operator’.<\/p>\n Here is a handy table to give you some idea of where you might be able to:<\/p>\n We nabbed this from VATIT<\/a>, hope they don’t mind (it is out of date)<\/p><\/div>\n I don’t see a 43% in there, but a fair few in the 20% region. So some big savings to be had, if this does apply to you.<\/p>\n You can’t reclaim it everywhere – some places just don’t have an exemption at all, and in some places you can’t reclaim after paying, so you have to make sure it is taken off the bill before you pay.<\/p>\n So make sure:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There he is, dialling in the tax code…<\/p><\/div>\n Well, that is actually all we really know on it.<\/p>\n The cost, as we said, is often added in at the fuel truck, and the rules for reclaiming it seem to be a little ‘uncoordinated’ (messy!) This is particularly the case, it seems, for France, Germany and Austria.<\/p>\n So much so that the EBAA\u00a0wrote this very thorough guide on<\/a>\u00a0the legal impact of the ‘European Energy Taxation Directive on Business Aviation in Germany, France and Austria’.<\/p>\n In case the word ‘thorough’ put you off reading it, here’s our little, much less thorough summary of it:<\/p>\n There is a lot of info in the guide (we won’t try and re-write it all out) but it is definitely worth a read if you are running into difficulties reclaiming your MOT in any of these three spots.<\/p>\n France won’t let you reclaim it if the passenger is also (directly or indirectly) the owner of the aircraft<\/strong> carrying them, but of course it isn’t that simple. What they define\u00a0as ‘commercial’ is often confusing, and it gets even messier for charters.<\/p>\n No-one is entirely sure how it is all applied in Germany, it seems to be really inconsistent and dependent on where you file<\/strong> your reclaim. It is also very complicated when it comes to corporate flights.<\/p>\n And it hasn’t been decided whether to apply it to training flights, maintenance flights or positioning flights…<\/p>\n Austria apparently have the worst ‘burden of proof’ on the operator<\/strong> of any country.<\/p>\n Basically you have to disclose loads of information, including stuff about your passengers, which could breach any NDAs you have. So it might be worth highlighting this to them and saying “<\/em>if we try and get you\u00a0money off the fuel, we’re going to have to share\u00a0loads of info about you, is that ok?”<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n You need to make sure you have your AOC to hand (to move you are worthy of exemption) along with the purchase invoice (showing the MOT levied) and fuel delivery notes (showing the correct aircraft registration, signed etc).<\/p>\n Some but not all countries allow for retrospective refunds which is why not paying it where possible is a better option. For those that do, you have to submit your claim to the local customs office<\/strong> (there isn’t a centralised claims office), and there are deadlines for this.<\/p>\n We shall. We discovered VATIT<\/strong> who have the title of\u00a0“world leading expert in aviation tax”<\/em> (self-titled). We got a lot of this info, including that rather handy table, off their site so reckon they might be the folk to talk to<\/strong>. Here’s their website<\/a>, and here is a very useful post<\/a> they wrote on\u00a0Canadian Excise Duties on Fuel Bills\u00a0<\/strong>if that’s something you want to find out about as well.<\/p>\nCan I<\/span> reclaim it?<\/h4>\n
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Great, I’m one of those. So where<\/span> can I reclaim it?<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Screenshot-2022-11-22-at-10.30.19-1024x707.png\")
If I should be exempt can I just not pay it?<\/h4>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Shutterstock_1377608192-1-1024x698.jpg\")
Tell me more about all this.<\/h4>\n
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The main issue in France<\/h4>\n
The main issue in Germany<\/h4>\n
The main issue in Austria<\/h4>\n
OK, I know enough. How do I reclaim it?<\/h4>\n
Gimme some links<\/h4>\n