Monarch: govt must tax US giants to compensate passengers - Cable

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable has said that the government should consider taxing big American on-line travel agencies such as Trip Adviser and Booking.com to pay compensation to holidaymakers left out of pocket by collapsing travel companies. His intervention comes as 100,000 British passengers have been left devastated by the collapse of Monarch, with some potentially being charged to be brought home. Vince Cable said: “It is scandalous that many British holiday makers will miss out on compensation. It is also unclear whether the government will seek to charge people who are brought home if they have booked through big American companies such as Trip Adviser and Booking.com who are not regulated and do not pay tax. "It is completely wrong that they are allowed to sell holidays without ATOL protection and they should be made to pay tax to pick up some of the bill for those British travellers now left stranded. If they are making profits in the UK these companies should be regulated and taxed in the UK. The 100,000 British travellers left stranded by the collapse of Monarch will be looking at the government to take action.”