So who out there is a ticketing whiz with understanding all the taxes?

I find them one of the stranger things in air travel. Some places (such as UK) base the tax on class of travel and distance of travel, some have a set fee (such as Melbourne), some don't get included in the ticket and must be paid at the actual airport (some of this still exists I assume?).

Since i'm moving to SIN, i've been most curious at the taxes when I look at making weeking bookings to travel places in Asia.

For example, on Tiger from SIN-SGN, the fare is SGD$50, but the taxes/fees are SGD$55 (!!). Jetstar Asia have their fare at $81.95, and taxes at $28... so how can that be so? Does the tax vary with ticket price? Is Tiger's more full of "fees" than actual "taxes"? You click the breakdown button on Tiger site and it just pops up and says again "taxes/fees/charges sgd$55". Most of the taxes ex SIN seem somewhat excessive to me... especially if you are departing from a budget terminal.

I always liked the US model, where domestic taxes aren't levied to airline staff. How do you levy a tax on a free ticket? You don't. How do you levy it on a reduced rate ticket.... well in the US you don't, rest of world seems to be at the full prevailing rate, which really is a shame