Tax & Legal

The task of operating merchant ships encompasses all transactions and legal acts, such as supplying the ships with fuels and equipment. The Supreme Tax Court decided that to benefit from the tonnage tax system the technical and commercial management of merchant ships must be carried out almost exclusively in Germany.

The Supreme Tax Court has held on a literal interpretation of the statute that an unrealised exchange gain on opting for tonnage tax does not qualify for the trade tax privilege for shipping income when realised.

The Supreme Tax Court has held the tonnage tax hidden reserve of a shipping partnership to be taxable in Germany on the withdrawal of a Belgian partner from the partnership.