Singapore government extends maritime incentives in 2015 budget

In his 2015 budget speech Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said, “I will extend the Maritime Sector Incentive (MSI) which promotes the growth of Singapore as an International Maritime Centre.

Measures include that snder the MSI an automatic With Holding Tax exemption will extended to cover finance leases, hire-purchase and loans used to finance equity injections wholly-owned special purpose vehicles (SPV), or intercompany loans to SPVs for the construction of vessels, containers or equipment.

Definitions for qualifying companies for tax exemptions under the MSI schemes covering Singapore-flagged, foreign-flagged and support services will also be updated.

Existing companies that qualify for the MSI – Shipping Related Services Award can renew their award for another five years subject to qualifying conditions and commitments.

For those under the MSI – Maritime Leasing Scheme the 10% or 5% concessionary tax rate will now cover income from finance leases treated as a sale.

The enhancements took effect from 24 February and further details will be released by the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) in May.

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