Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Act 2017

Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Act 2017

2017 asp 2

The Act

Part 2 – Key Concepts

Section 7 – Changes of circumstance beyond passengers’ control

22. This section provides a tax exemption for the carriage of a passenger on a flight where, for reasons beyond the passenger’s control:

• an exemption that would otherwise apply to the passenger (under section 3 to 6 or regulations under section 15) ceases to apply to the passenger (section 7(1)); or

• the passenger, in the course of a journey that includes only flights for which the passenger has a ticket, departs from a Scottish airport on a flight that is not shown on the passenger’s ticket (section 7(3)).

Example	Tax outcome
Example 1 A passenger is flying from New York to Edinburgh to Kirkwall. Under section 5, the passenger is a non-chargeable passenger on the Edinburgh to Kirkwall flight because it is a second connected flight. However, a flight delay caused by poor weather results in the passenger’s Edinburgh to Kirkwall flight being delayed beyond the maximum allowable connection time.	No ADT is payable for the carriage of the passenger on the Edinburgh to Kirkwall flight. Under section 7(1), the passenger continues to be a non-chargeable passenger on the delayed flight, but only if the delay arose after the passenger’s ticket was issued or last amended.
Example 2 A passenger has a ticket for a flight from Aberdeen to London Heathrow. However, the plane develops a mechanical problem and makes an unscheduled stop in Edinburgh. The passenger is transferred to a scheduled Edinburgh to London Heathrow flight.	No ADT is payable for the carriage of the passenger on the scheduled Edinburgh to London Heathrow flight, but only if the passenger is carried on that flight without his or her ticket being amended to reflect the changed flight details. (ADT will already have been incurred for the carriage of the passenger from Aberdeen to London Heathrow at the point when that flight began.)