Updated Air Passenger Duty notices
HMRC’s Notice 550 entitled ‘Air Passenger Duty’ has been updated. The notice cancels and replaces the previous version published in December 2009. In addition, Notice 551 entitled ‘Special accounting schemes for air passenger duty’ has been updated and replaces the version published in January 2003.
Notice 550 has been updated to cover the charge to penalties resulting in errors in returns or documents as well as for failure to notify HMRC of a liability to be registered for APD.
Notice 551 has been updated to account for changes in airlines’ systems for electronic ticketing and to include the new APD rates which became effective for any journey beginning on or after 1 November 2009. The APD rates are set to increase again from 1 November 2010.
The bands are based on the distance from London to a destination’s capital city and are divided into four geographical bands. Each geographical band has two rates of air passenger duty, one for standard class and the second for ‘other’ higher classes of travel.