Pay Air Passenger Duty

This guide explains how and when to pay Air Passenger Duty, and what to do if you have nothing to pay.

Your notice to file will tell you the deadline for payment. This deadline is extended by 7 calendar days if you pay by:

If you’re using the Occasional Operator Scheme, you must pay within 7 days of your flight.

If the deadline is on a weekend or bank holiday, make sure your payment reaches HMRC by the end of the previous working day.

If you do not pay by the deadline you may need to pay a penalty, interest or both.

You need your 15-character reference number starting with X.

You can find this on your notice to file.

If you use the Occasional Operator Scheme, you’ll need to contact HMRC for a reference number. Use this each time you report and pay Air Passenger Duty. Make a note of this reference as you will not get a notice to file.

If you use the wrong reference number your payment may be delayed or used to pay a different tax bill that you owe. If your payment has paid the wrong tax bill, you can email [email protected] to ask for your payment to be moved.

You can approve a payment through your online bank account.

You can pay by approving a payment through your online bank account by selecting the ‘pay by bank account’ option.

You will be directed to sign in to your online or mobile banking account to approve your payment.

You will need to have your online banking details to hand to pay this way.

The payment is usually instant but can take up to 2 hours to show in your bank account.

To set up a Direct Debit, you can print out and post the Direct Debit Instruction form.

You should allow 10 working days for HMRC to set up your Direct Debit. You’ll need to use another method to pay if it is not set up in time.

Once HMRC has set up your Direct Debit, they’ll automatically collect the amount shown on your return.

You cannot pay by Direct Debit under the Occasional Operator Scheme.