Changes to Air Passenger Duty rates and filing deadlines

20 February 2014

Air Passenger Duty (APD) is a duty of Excise which is levied on the carriage, from a UK airport, of chargeable passengers on a chargeable aircraft. It becomes due when a flight with chargeable passengers occurs and is payable by the operator of the aircraft.

From 1 April 2013, the scope of APD widened resulting in more companies having to register for, and pay, APD. To assist with the added burden of this increase in scope of APD, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) introduced the Annual Accounting scheme, also taking effect on 1 April 2013. This gives operators with an annual APD liability of less than £500,000 the option of a single return and payment.

Please note that the first year of the Annual Accounting scheme is now drawing to a close and APD returns will be due for the period 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014.

HMRC has also announced that APD rates will increase in line with inflation from 1 April 2014. Please see the link below to the APD section of the HMRC website for more information.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/air-passenger-duty

Those operators who are using Annual Accounting for the APD reporting need to ensure they file the returns and data by 7 April 2014. If operators have any questions about the filing requirements, please contact either Darren Aldrich (Darren.Aldrich@fiscalsolutions.co.uk) or Stephen Pope (Stephen.Pope@fiscalsolutions.co.uk).