Death and Taxes - are they inevitable - are they equal?

There is the old saying about nothing being certain in life except Death and Taxes. Probably true.

But are they always imposed the same way.

So until this point taxes on airfares have been largely considered to be evenly applied. If you are based in the UK or another country in Europe they Should be the same no matter what path or routing you take. The reverse is not so true. For sometime now I have been looking at taxes and I remain amazed at the differences in taxes how the rules are interpreted and applied EVEN FOR THE SAME ITINERARY.

If you don't believe me - just try this at home folks. Go to a neutral site (whether its an OTA or a Meta Search) and look at the results you get. If you have enough frequent flyer miles also consider trying to purchase a FF ticket and look at taxes that are applied there.

One of the worst offenders? British Airways for their "Free" tickets. I have often seen taxes of up to $500 roundtrip Transatlantic flight. Yet for the same O&D on a US carrier like Delta the taxes were a mere $50.

So what gives here. Is someone OVER-COLLECTING on taxes. Surely this cannot be right?

And you all know how much I hate paying taxes - just like you do.

Cheers

Timothy