BAA escapes corporation tax

Date: 22nd April 2008

The holding company for BAA claimed a tax credit of £211 million last year, it has emerged.

Accounts released this month for Spanish-controlled firm Airport Development and Investment (ADI) reveal that the company will escape corporation tax for several years.

Last year's corporation tax cut of two per cent, which took the rate from 30 per cent to 28 per cent, largely explains the tax credit, notes the Telegraph.

But ADI would not have paid any tax last year despite these issues, as the interest bill from BAA's debt wipes any taxable profit out.

A spokesperson for the TaxPayers' Alliance told the publication: "It's shocking that BAA is raking in cash from the British taxpayer, despite doing such a bad job."

The company, which owns Heathrow, Stansted and Gatwick, was at the head of the disastrous Terminal 5 opening last month.

As well as its seven UK hubs, BAA owns a 65 per cent stake in Naples Airport and has retail management contracts at three airports in the US.