Airport Taxes and Fees

Departure Tax (DPT) and Airport Development Fee (ADF).

ADF is a fee levied on passengers, departing from the Maldives via Velana International Airport. 

ADF must be collected from passengers who purchase their tickets or change their travel dates on or after 1 December 2024 for travel on or after 1 December 2024 at below rates.

Departure Tax is levied on passengers departing from Maldives from an airport in the Maldives.

DPT must be collected from passengers who purchase their tickets or change their travel dates on or after 1 November 2024 for travel on or after 1 November 2024 at below rates.

• It is the responsibility of airlines operating scheduled flights to the Maldives to collect ADF and DPT from passengers departing via such airlines.
• It is the responsibility of airport operators to collect ADF and DPT from passengers departing from the Maldives from that airport on flights operated by persons other than airlines that operate scheduled flights to the Maldives. For example, charter flights and private jets.

Only persons with diplomatic immunity and transit passengers on “direct transit” flights are exempt from ADF.

Direct transit flights are those flights which transit at an airport in the Maldives and depart with the same flight number

• Persons with diplomatic immunity;
• Transit passengers; and
• Children under the age of 2 years.

A child would be exempt from DPT, if the child’s ticket originates from a point inside the Maldives, and the child was less than 2 years old on the date of departure from the Maldives. If a child’s ticket originates from a point outside the Maldives, the child would be exempt from DPT only if the child was less than 2 years old on the date of departure from the point of origin.

Transit passengers are defined as those passengers who stay in the Maldives for less than 24 hours for a purpose such as changing flights, while travelling from one county to another country. 

• Foreign nationals’ resident in the Maldives as members of a foreign diplomatic mission, who are entitled to the privileges and immunities specified in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961)
• All passengers on flights which are granted “diplomatic clearance” by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Diplomatic clearance is normally granted to flights which carry heads of state/government or high-ranking officials of other states.

Direct transit flights are those flights which transit at an airport in the Maldives and depart with the same flight number.

Airlines that operate scheduled flights to Maldives and airport operators are required to register with MIRA for ADF and DPT. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the airlines and airport operators to calculate and submit ATF return and pay ATF to MIRA. 

If the permit issued by MCAA to an airline or airport operator expires, or is cancelled or transferred, the entity must submit a request to MIRA to deregister the entity from ADF and DPT. The request must be made in writing within 15 days of the cancellation, transfer or expiration.

Deadline to file ATF return and make payment is the 28th day of following month.

Information Sheet is a document containing information, in the case of an airport operator, the Information Sheet include information about all flights that departed from the Maldives from that airport during the month, and in the case of an airline, the Information Sheet include information about the airline’s flights that departed from the Maldives during the month. Format of the Information Sheet and Instructions on filling in the Information Sheet are also available from our website.

MIRA 530 (Airport Taxes and Fees Return) which must be supported by an Information Sheet.

ADF and DPT must be paid to MIRA in USD irrespective of the currency in which they were collected from the passengers.

In addition to the records required by Tax Administration Act and Tax Administration Regulation, persons registered for ADF and DPT must maintain the following records:

• Invoices sent to various parties to collect ADF and DPT receivable, receipts for payments received, written correspondence relating to collection of payments
• Flight manifest of flights operated by that airline or flights departing from that airport
• Details of excess tax collected from passengers, details of passengers, if excess is refunded, details of such transactions.

An airline or airport operator may file an amended ATF Return within 12 months from the due date for filing that return.

In case a passenger is upgraded to a higher class of travel, whether or not the passenger’s ticket is re-issued in respect of such upgrade, ATF will be charged to such passenger at the rates applicable to that higher class.
If the passenger is upgraded at the time of check-in, and the upgrade is not a result of a consideration made, ATF will not be applied at the upgraded travel class rate. “Consideration” include redeeming of points gained by the passenger in a loyalty scheme.

In case the travel class of a passenger is downgraded from a higher class in respect of which the passenger has paid ATF at the rates applicable to that higher class, to a lower class, either on the request of the passenger or otherwise, the passenger will only be liable to ATF at the rates applicable to that lower class.