Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on pilot flight training courses.

Pilot training may be exempt from VAT when provided by an eligible body which meets certain conditions (for example, when provided by a government institution or certain regulated organisations), but otherwise will be subject to the standard rate. The Government currently has no plans to remove VAT on pilot flight training courses more broadly. VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to the vast majority of goods and services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.