Does Scotland have its own version of Air Passenger Duty?

Full answer

Air Passenger Duty, the tax charged on passengers flying from UK airports, was legislated to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament some years ago, with the intention that Scotland would replace it with its own equivalent, provisionally named Air Departure Tax, potentially set at different rates or with different exemptions than the rest of the UK. However, unlike Land and Buildings Transaction Tax or Scottish Income Tax, which were successfully devolved and are now fully operational with genuinely different rates from the rest of the UK, the actual commencement of Air Departure Tax has been repeatedly delayed for several years running, meaning that, in practice, standard UK-wide Air Passenger Duty (set by the UK Government and applying identically in Scotland as in England, Wales and Northern Ireland) has continued to apply to flights departing Scottish airports throughout this extended delay. A significant part of the delay has stemmed from unresolved questions around how to legally implement an exemption for flights connecting the Highlands and Islands, which the Scottish Government has committed to maintaining (mirroring an existing regional exemption under the current UK Air Passenger Duty system) without falling foul of subsidy control and international aviation rules governing how such regional exemptions can be structured. Because of this ongoing uncertainty, anyone booking or operating flights from Scottish airports should continue to expect standard UK Air Passenger Duty to apply for the foreseeable future, rather than a separate Scottish rate, until the Scottish Government confirms a firm implementation date for Air Departure Tax.