Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK has announced that the Isle of Man will not be following the United Kingdom in extending Air Passenger Duty (APD) to ‘business jets’.
Mr Teare said the decision would support the growth of the aircraft sector of the Island’s economy. In April this year Mr Teare stated that he had no intention of extending APD to 19 seat aircraft but he would be seeking the views of the Department of Economic Development and through them business, before making a final decision on whether to mirror the UK’s other planned APD changes. This followed the UK announcement that from 1 April 2013, it is to extend APD to passengers departing the UK aboard such aircraft.
Mr Teare explained:
‘The feedback Treasury received from the Department of Economic Development was that the vast majority of industry professionals and representatives saw the extension of APD to business jets as detrimental and contrary to the Island’s aims to support and encourage further inward investment in the Island’s growing aircraft sector. I hope that Treasury’s decision not to extend APD to business jets will send out the message to the aircraft sector that the Isle of Man gives you freedom to fly’.
Hartley Elder, Director of Civil Aviation at the Department of Economic Development said:
‘The business aircraft owners and operators are a valuable and flourishing component of the Island’s economy and they will be encouraged to visit the Island by the Treasury’s decision not to extend APD to business jets. The Isle of Man is already recognised as the registration ‘one stop shop’ for business aviation, with ourselves at the Aircraft Registry, our colleagues in Customs & Excise and the private sector delivering a first class service to the industry. This decision supports our work and underlines the Island’s reputation as a business friendly location for the business aviation sector.’
Since 1994, when APD was introduced in both the UK and the Isle of Man, the Treasury has chosen to maintain duty-rates and general rules on liability so that they correspond to those in force in the UK.
However, it has decided that it would not be in the interests of the Island to introduce the two most recent changes being implemented by HM Revenue and Customs, namely
- extending APD to all aircraft with 19 seats or more and a take-off weight of at least 5.7 tonnes; and
- applying an enhanced rate of APD to aircraft of 20 tonnes or more with fewer than 19 seats
