Order, Order.

We turn now to a Stage 2 Vote on SB218, in the name of the Scottish National Party. The question is that this Parliament approves the amendments to the Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill.

Members are reminded to vote For/Against/Abstain. Attempts to stylise a vote may result in it not being counted. Where there is mix-up with an alternative voting style, this shall also be accepted.

Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to provide for an Air Departure Tax, and for connected purposes.

Section 1: Consequential Repeals

1. The following acts are repealed:

a. the Air Passenger Duty (Scotland) Act 2020

b. the Air Passenger (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2021

Section 2: Interpretations

1. For the purposes of this Act, “kerosene” has the same meaning as defined in section 1(8) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979.

2. For the purposes of this Act, “certificate of airworthiness” means a certificate issued under the relevant sections of The Air Navigation Order 2009.

Section 3: Air Departure Tax

1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, an Air Departure Tax shall be charged on the carriage of passengers by air.

2. An aircraft becomes liable for Air Departure Tax when it departs from an airport carrying passengers.

3. Air Departure Tax shall be levied on the operators of aircraft liable as a result of this Act.

4. Subject to the provisions of this act, all passengers on an aircraft departing an airport in Scotland are chargeable for the purposes of the Air Departure Tax.

5. In all cases, the journey of all passengers chargeable subject to the provisions of this act ends at their final ticketed destination, issued by the operator of the aircraft that initially departed from an airport in Scotland.

Section 4: Chargeable Aircraft

1. An aircraft shall be liable for Air Passenger Duty if—

a. It is a fixed wing aircraft designed or adapted to carry persons in addition to the flight crew.

b. It is authorised take-off weight is 5.7 tonnes or more, and

c. It is fueled by kerosene. 2. An aircraft shall be determined to have an authorised take-off weight of less than 5.7 tonnes if—

a. There is a certificate of airworthiness in force for that aircraft which shows the maximum authorised take-off weight is less than 5.7 tonnes, or

b. The body tasked with implementing the administration of Air Departure Tax is satisfied that the aircraft is not designed or adapted to take-off with a take-off weight of 5.7 tonnes or more.

Section 5: Rates

1. The rates of Air Departure Tax are outlined in Schedule 1 to this Act

2. The Scottish Ministers may vary these rates by regulations, subject to the affirmative procedure.

Section 6: Implementation

1. The body responsible for administering Air Passenger Duty shall have the responsibility for administering Air Departure Tax.

2. The Scottish Ministers may by regulation, subject to the negative procedure, assign or create an alternative body responsible for the administration of the Air Departure Tax.

Section 7: Offences

1. A person who is knowingly—

a. involved in the fraudulent evasion by that person or another person of duty, or

b. in taking steps with a view to commit such fraudulent evasion, is guilty of an offence.

1. A person who knowingly—

a. makes a statement they know to be false in a material particular, or,

b. in an attempt to deceive, produce or makes use of a book, account, return or other document that is false in a material particular is guilty of an offence.

1. A person guilty of an offence under Section 8 is liable—

a. on summary conviction—

i. to a penalty of £20,000 or treble the amount of duty evaded or sought to be evaded, whatever is greater, or

ii. to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or

iii. to both, or,

b. on conviction on indictment—

i. to a penalty of any amount, or

ii. to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years, or

iii. to both.

Section 8: Commencement

1. This Act comes into force 180 days following Royal Assent.

Section 9: Short Title

1. This Act may be cited as the Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Act.

Schedule 1: Air Departure Tax Rates

This Bill was written by u/mg9500 on behalf of the Scottish National Party.

Opening Speech

Presiding Officer, this bill aims to radically reform Scotland’s aviation taxation in order to stress several environmentally friendly principles.

This bill aims to destroy the viability of domestic flights within the CTA with the exception of the PSO routes within Scotland. This is an entirely true statement. These flights should not exist from an environmental standpoint and there is no justification for them but this Parliament does not yet have the competency to ban such flights. This de facto ban is therefore the most appropriate solution.

Elsewhere, this bill rectifies an issue with the current APD regime - as flight distance extends from Scotland, travelling by plane becomes more essential, therefore an environmental levy will not necessarily succeed in reducing passenger numbers as the alternatives (if they even exist) will be increasingly less desirable. Therefore flight distance and taxation due should become inversely correlated as this bill proposes.

Separately, this tidies up some current issues with the operation of APD as things stand, such as clarifying that ADT will only be due on departure from Scotland, not arrival. This bill also removes age related exemptions and modifications depending on the class of travel, as what we are trying to cut, emissions, are unaffected by either of these two matters.

Link to Stage 1 Debate

Amendments

A01 - in the name of u/Faelif:

Replace section 5(2) with the following:

(2) The Cabinet Secretary may by regulations amend the table in Schedule 1 to this Act.

(a) No regulations may be made under this subsection unless a draft of those regulations has been laid before and approved by the Scottish Parliament.

(b) Subsection (a) applies only when regulations include provision to move a region or country from one band to another band.

EN: Allows for the addition of new countries and the removal of countries that no longer exist without a vote.

A02 - in the name of u/LightningMinion:

Amend Schedule 1 to read:

Table 1: Rates of Air Departure Tax

Table 2: Rates of the Frequent Flyer Levy

In Table 2, "n" is the number of flights taken during the current year by the passenger for which the Frequent Flyer Levy may be charged.

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In section 6, after subsection 2 append:

(3) The Scottish Ministers may make any regulations deemed necessary to bring the provisions of this Act into force.

(4) Subject to subsection (4), regulations under subsection (3) are subject to the negative procedure

(5) Regulations made under subsection (3) which modify any enactment (including this Act) are subject to the affirmative procedure.

Amend section 8 to read:

(1) This section, section 9, and sections 6(2) to 6(5) come into force the day after Royal Assent.

(2) The other provisions of this Act come into force 180 days after Royal Assent.

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Explanatory note: implements a frequent flyer levy

Voting on this item of Business ends with the close of Business on April 1st, at 10 pm BST.