British lawmaker weighs in on airline tax

A British legislator says the Caribbean’s united position on the controversial Airline Passenger Duty (APD) should serve as a reminder of what can be achieved when there is unity.



Conservative Member of Parliament, Julian Smith told a meeting of Caribbean nationals in London that the lobby efforts by the region are likely to solve the problem of the inequality of the tax measure.



The APD is an excise duty paid by airline passengers travelling from UK airports.



The tax is levied according to groups of countries and by the class of travel used.



Caribbean governments have lobbied against various anomalies in the APD noting that the flights to the Caribbean attract a higher tax than flights to destinations that are much further away, such as the United States.



Britain’s Finance Minister George Osborne, in May, announced the launch of a consultation on the APD.



The consultation period, which ended on June 17, considered the views and evidence submitted by interested stakeholders.