‘CHECK OUT’ PLEA ON NEW AIR TAX
Independent think tank Reform Scotland has called for the Scottish government to carry out its own economic modelling of its new Air Departure Tax (ADT) before implementation.
ADT is the replacement for Air Passenger Duty (APD), which the Scottish government will disapply to Scottish Airports from 2018. But Reform Scotland says the legislation before the Scottish Parliament does not set out who the tax will apply to and what the rate will be.
As a result, because the exemptions to the tax are not set out in this legislation, the new tax, as currently drafted, would apply to children (whereas the current APD does not). Exemptions have been set out in previous primary legislation. The SNP gave a commitment to cut APD by 50 per cent. But this is not reflected in the legislation.
Says RS Research Director Alison Payne, “We do not believe that legislation dealing with the creation of a new tax, or any tax, can simply ignore the issue of who will pay and what they will pay, as this legislation does. It is not transparent, nor is it accountable to simply state that they “will be delivered at a later date.”
