Meeting of the Parliament 25 April 2017
I am delighted to open the stage 1 debate on the Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill. The devolution of powers over air passenger duty to the Scottish Parliament was recommended by the Smith commission in November 2014. Following the passage of the Scotland Act 2016, the Scottish Parliament now has the power to legislate for air departure tax, which will replace APD in Scotland. In the programme for government, the Scottish Government announced that a bill would be introduced to establish a tax to replace APD in Scotland. To deliver on that commitment, the Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill was subsequently introduced on 19 December 2016.
Under terms agreed between the Scottish and UK Governments in the fiscal framework, APD will cease to apply in Scotland from 1 April 2018, the block grant will be adjusted downwards and, if the bill is enacted, ADT will replace APD from that date.
Separately, the Scottish Fiscal Commission will assume responsibility for producing independent forecasts of receipts from ADT for future Scottish Government budgets. Those forecasts will reflect the Scottish Government’s policy for ADT at that time.
The bill establishes the general structure and operation of ADT, which is a tax to be charged on the carriage of passengers on flights that begin in Scotland. The tax will apply only for the carriage of chargeable passengers on chargeable aircraft, and will be payable by the aircraft operator.
Revenue Scotland, Scotland’s tax authority for devolved taxes, will be responsible for collecting and managing ADT, which it has done efficiently and effectively since 1 April 2015 for Scotland’s other devolved taxes, which are the land and buildings transaction tax and the Scottish landfill tax. The bill as introduced also includes powers for Scottish ministers to set tax exemptions, tax rate amounts and tax bands through secondary legislation. I will say more on exemptions later. Setting tax bands and tax rate amounts in subordinate legislation is consistent with the approach adopted in relation to other devolved taxes.
The Scottish Government is seeking parliamentary approval for the bill in advance of the summer recess. With the core foundations of the tax in place, we will then set tax rates and tax bands through secondary legislation in the autumn. The secondary legislation will be subject to the affirmative procedure, which means that Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise tax bands and tax rate amount proposals at a later date. Those cannot come into effect without Parliament’s approval. In future years, tax bands and tax rate amounts—