A surf tax in the UK may push some Cornwall surf schools out of the water altogether. Photo: Shutterstock
This isn’t the first time taxation has been applied to riding waves, but some UK businesses are arguing it could be the most dangerous. Councilors in Cornwall have agreed to enforce a “surf tax” for surf related businesses that operate from specific beaches. The idea is to charge a licensing fee to surf schools based on how many boards they own, operate and launch from beaches owned by the Cornwall council.
The council has created a sliding scale that will mostly impact the largest surf schools in the 13 beaches where the taxes are set to be imposed. At a rate of £72.15 per board, per year, the largest schools can be paying upwards of £4,000 a year simply for licensing their own equipment. Chris Rea of the Harlyn Surf School said, “The Council have based their revenue figures on the premise that all surf schools will pay and that isn’t going to happen.”
Opposers of the tax say that if that sentiment holds true and schools simply leave Cornwall’s taxed beaches then England’s south west coast is in danger. “The council are encouraging us to not go in the water with people and help them,” says Peter Abell, owner of Kingsurf Surf School,” but to send people out there with no supervision, which is dangerous.”
But while surf related businesses worry that they’re being unfairly singled out with the tax, council members assured they’ve already taxed every business from ice cream trucks to bike rental shops that use the same area. Imposing a licensing scheme that reflects the size of each business by charging them a per board fee was the fairest way for the surf industry to soften the blow of £196 million in cuts over the next four years.
