Scottish politicians are to vote on plans to replace Air Passenger Duty paid by passengers on flights from Scotland’s airports.
The Scottish government bill will see APD replaced by a new Air Departure Tax (ADT) in Scotland from April next year.
The government in Edinburgh wants to cut the new tax by 50%, before eventually scrapping it completely.
It argues the move will boost the economy by increasing the number of flights to and from the country.
But opponents are concerned about the environmental impact of more flights, and claim the cut would mainly benefit wealthy travellers and big business.
The Scottish parliament was given powers to charge tax on passengers leaving Scottish airports under the Scotland Act, which came into force last year.
APD currently raises about £300 million in Scotland and £3 billion across the UK every year.
The bands, rates and exemptions for the replacement tax are not covered in the bill and are expected to be decided later this year, the BBC reported.
But the Scottish government has said it wants to cut the tax by 50% before abolishing it completely “when resources allow”.
It says its plans are a “fundamental component to improving Scotland’s international connectivity and providing a real boost to our economy”.
And it says that APD is the most expensive tax of its kind in Europe, and one of the highest in the world – which the government believes acts as a barrier to Scotland’s ability to secure new direct international services and maintain existing ones.
The Scottish government proposals were backed in principle by the parliament’s finance committee in April.
But members said they were disappointed by the government’s lack of information on exemptions to the tax, and on the economic, social, financial and environmental impacts of a 50% cut.
The committee said the government would need to provide more detail before MSPs decided on the rates and bands for the new tax, which is likely to be after the summer.
The Scottish Conservatives have backed the abolition of air tax on long-haul flights, but want to keep it for short-haul passengers.
But Scottish Labour and the Scottish Greens have called on the Scottish government to scrap its plans to cut the tax.
The Greens published research over the weekend that suggested cutting APD was “predominantly a tax giveaway for Scotland’s wealthiest households and corporations”.