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In response to a news report about an airline's late payment of the Air Passenger Departure Tax, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) made the following remarks:
Under the Air Passenger Departure Tax Ordinance (Cap. 140), airlines are responsible for the collection of the Air Passenger Departure Tax (APDT) from passengers and must pay the tax so collected to the Government. This arrangement has been working effectively.
CAD stated that Thai Sky Airlines, which operates charter flights between Hong Kong and Thailand, had defaulted the APDT payment to the Government on four occasions in the past three years. The airline subsequently settled each payment after CAD had served notices.
As the airline defaulted on the payment of APDT again in February 2006, CAD exercised the discretionary powers under section 7(4) of the Air Passenger Departure Tax Ordinance to demand a 5% additional charge. The outstanding APDT payment and the additional charge were settled on March 31.
CAD will vigilantly enforce the Air Passenger Departure Tax Ordinance and take appropriate action to ensure timely payment of the APDT from the operators.
Ends/Monday, April 3, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:47
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