A qualifying company for tonnage tax is one that is within the charge to corporation tax in the UK, and 'operates' or 'manages' 'qualifying ships' (D7.1004) that are 'strategically and commercially managed' (D7.1004A) in the UK1. Before 1 April 2024, only companies which operated qualifying ships were qualifying companies. Ship managers who are not operators of ships can only make a tonnage tax election on or after that date. The extension of the regime to such companies is intended to increase the international competitiveness of the UK shipping industry.
This article discusses when a company is regarded as operating or managing a ship.
Operating a ship
A company will be regarded as operating a ship if:
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•ÌýÌýÌýÌý it owns a ship or a ship is chartered in to it, or
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•ÌýÌýÌýÌý a ship has been chartered out by it on bareboat charter terms and either2:
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–ÌýÌýÌýÌý the charter is not to a third party
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–ÌýÌýÌýÌý the ship has been chartered out because of short term over-capacity
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Web page updated on 17 Mar 2025 16:44