Title: Shipping taxation: perspectives and impact on flag choice

Authors: Peter Marlow, Kyriaki Mitroussi

Addresses: Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU, Wales, UK. ' Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU, Wales, UK

Abstract: The tax treatment of the shipping industry over the last 30 years exhibits alternative forms of corporate taxation systems implemented by various governments. A consensus view of the way in which shipping should be treated for tax purposes has resulted in the widely adopted form of the tonnage tax. The aim of the paper is to examine the success or otherwise of such shipping fiscal policies in respect of widely accepted perspectives and set objectives. The focus of the study is on the UK registry, investigating the impact of the introduction of the UK tonnage tax. Noteworthy results emerge along with the understanding that, in the long run, the tonnage tax seems to be connected more with the |flagging out| of foreign owned tonnage than with the |flagging in| of nationally owned vessels. The findings can be considered to have broader implications for the competitiveness of national ship registries and for policy making.

Keywords: shipping taxation; tonnage tax; flag choice; UK registry; United Kingdom; shipping fiscal policies; national ship registries; policy making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTL.2011.041132

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics, 2011 Vol.3 No.4, pp.349 - 364

Published online: 21 Feb 2015 *

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