The People’s Majlis has on Monday passed an amendment to introduce a Departure Tax instead of the Airport Taxes and Fees charged from travelers leaving from local airports.

42 lawmakers, out of the 63 eligible, voted to pass the motion at Monday’s sitting, while there was one vote against and two abstentions.

The amendment bill was submitted by North-Fuvahmulah constituency MP Mohamed Rasheed on 12th April 2019, on behalf of the government.

The bill regarding taxing travelers that leave from a Maldivian airport was reviewed by the parliament’s committee of the whole house; the committee approved the bill last week.

As per the bill, Maldivians and foreigners traveling from business class will be charged USD 60 while those traveling from first class will be charges USD 90. However, there is a higher tax for foreigners if they are travelling from economy class. As such, a Maldivian will be charged USD 12 while foreign travelers will be charged USD 30.

Departure tax for both Maldivians and foreigners leaving via a private jet is USD 120.

While the original amendment bill sought to for the Departure Tax to go into effect on 1st April 2020, the committee changed this to 1 January 2022 as proposed by the Ministry of Finance.

In addition to the Departure Tax, those leaving from local airports have to pay the same amount as an Airport Development Charge.

As per the current laws, locals are required to pay USD 12 as an Airport Service Charge while foreigners pay USD 25, as well as an Airport Development Charge of the same amount.