On 21/05/2013,
you requested for the version in force on 21/05/2013
incorporating all amendments published on or before 21/05/2013.
The closest version currently available is that of 18/04/2013.
13F.
—(1) Subject to subsections (1A) and (2), there shall be exempt from tax the income of an approved international shipping enterprise derived —
(a)
on or after 1st April 1991 from —
(i)
the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock or goods from outside the limits of the port of Singapore by any foreign ship;
(ii)
the charter of any foreign ship to any person where such ship is used by the person for the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock or goods outside the limits of the port of Singapore; and
(iii)
the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock or goods by any foreign ship to Singapore solely for the purpose of transhipment;
(b)
for the year of assessment 2005 and subsequent years of assessment from —
(i)
the operation outside the limits of the port of Singapore of any dredger, seismic ship or any vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity; and
(ii)
the charter of any foreign dredger, foreign seismic ship, or any foreign vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity to any person where such dredger, seismic ship or vessel is used by the person for his operation outside the limits of the port of Singapore;
(c)
for the year of assessment 2003 and subsequent years of assessment from —
(i)
towing or salvage operations carried out from outside the limits of the port of Singapore by any foreign ship; and
(ii)
the charter of any foreign ship to any person where such ship is used by the person for towage and salvage operations carried out outside the limits of the port of Singapore;
[Act 34/2008, wef Y/A 2009 & Sub Ys/A]
[37/2002; 49/2004]
(d)
for the year of assessment 2009 and subsequent years of assessment, from foreign exchange and risk management activities which are carried out in connection with and incidental to the operations described in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c);
[Act 34/2008, wef Y/A 2009 & Sub Ys/A]
[29/2010 wef 22/02/2010]
(e)
on or after 22nd February 2010 from the provision of ship management services to any qualifying special purpose vehicle in respect of ships owned or operated by the qualifying special purpose vehicle, unless the conditions of its approval otherwise provides; and
[29/2010 wef 22/02/2010]
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
(f)
for the year of assessment 2012 and subsequent years of assessment from the carriage by any foreign ship of passengers, mails, livestock or goods which are shipped in Singapore, except where such carriage is only within the limits of the port of Singapore;
[22/2011 wef Y/A 2012 & Sub Ys/A]
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]
(g)
on or after 1st June 2011 from —
(i)
the sale of a foreign ship, a foreign dredger, a foreign seismic ship or any foreign vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity;
(ii)
the assignment to another of all its rights as the buyer under a contract for the construction of a ship, dredger, seismic ship or vessel that, at the time of the assignment, is intended to be a foreign ship, a foreign dredger, a foreign seismic ship or any foreign vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity; or
(iii)
the sale of all of the issued ordinary shares in a special purpose company of the approved international shipping enterprise where, at the time of the sale of the shares, the special purpose company owns any ship, dredger, seismic ship or vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity, or is the buyer under a contract for the construction of any ship, dredger, seismic ship or vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity.
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]
(1A) Unless the Minister or such person as he may appoint permits in a particular case, subsection (1)(e) does not apply to the provision by an approved international shipping enterprise of ship management services to a qualifying special purpose vehicle if at least 50% of the total number of the issued ordinary shares of the enterprise are beneficially owned, whether directly or indirectly, by another approved international shipping enterprise.
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 22/02/2010]
(1AA) Subsection (1)(g) shall not apply to —
(a)
any income of an approved international shipping enterprise as a lessor of a ship, dredger, seismic ship or any vessel used for offshore oil or gas activity, under a finance lease that is treated as a sale under section 10D; or
(b)
any income of an approved international shipping enterprise from carrying on a business of trading in ships, dredgers, seismic ships, or vessels used for offshore oil or gas activity, or of constructing ships, dredgers, seismic ships, or vessels used for offshore oil or gas activity for sale.
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]
(1B) An application may be made to the Minister or such person as he may appoint for a company —
(a)
which is an international shipping enterprise; or
(b)
which is not but intends to become an international shipping enterprise,
to be approved as an approved international shipping enterprise, and the company is deemed upon approval to be an approved international shipping enterprise.
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
(2) The exemption for each approved international shipping enterprise —
(a)
shall be for such period not exceeding 10 years from the date of its approval as the Minister or such person as he may appoint may specify, except that the Minister or such person as he may appoint may extend the period so specified for such further periods, not exceeding 10 years at a time, as he thinks fit; or
(b)
if, at the time of its approval, the company does not, in the opinion of the Minister or such person as he may appoint, satisfy such qualifying conditions as the Minister or person may determine for the purposes of paragraph (a), shall be for such period not exceeding 5 years from the date of its approval as the Minister or person may specify.
[22/2011 wef 01/06/2011]
(2A) The approval of an approved international shipping enterprise for a period of exemption referred to in subsection (2)(b) may only be granted at any time between 1st June 2011 and 31st May 2016 (both dates inclusive).
[22/2011 wef 01/06/2011]
(3) In determining the amount of the income of an approved international shipping enterprise which is exempted under this section, the allowances provided for in sections 16, 17, 18, 18B, 18C, 19, 19A, 20, 21, 22 and 23 —
(a)
shall be taken into account notwithstanding that no claim for those allowances has been made; and
(b)
shall only be deducted against the income referred to in subsection (1), and the balance of those allowances shall not be available as a deduction against any other income, except that any balance remaining unabsorbed at the end of the tax exempt period shall be available as a deduction against any other income for the year of assessment which relates to the basis period in which the tax exemption ceases and for any subsequent year of assessment in accordance with section 23.
[29/2010 wef 23/02/2010]
(4) Where an approved international shipping enterprise incurs a loss during the tax exempt period in respect of any operation, activity or service referred to in paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (1), that loss —
(a)
shall be deducted in accordance with section 37; and
(b)
shall only be deducted against the income referred to in any of those paragraphs, and the balance of such loss shall not be available as a deduction against any other income, except that any balance remaining unabsorbed at the end of the tax exempt period shall be available as a deduction against any other income for the year of assessment which relates to the basis period in which the tax exemption ceases and for any subsequent year of assessment in accordance with section 37.
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]
(4A) Where an approved international shipping enterprise incurs a loss on any sale or assignment referred to in subsection (1)(g) in any basis period falling, in whole or in part, within the tax exempt period, that loss shall only be deducted against the gains derived from another sale or assignment referred to in subsection (1)(g) in that same basis period, and the balance of the loss shall not be available as a deduction against any other income.
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]
(5) Section 13A(2), (2A), (4), (5), (5A), (6), (7), (8) and (9) shall apply to an approved international shipping enterprise, except that any reference to a shipping enterprise shall be read as a reference to an approved international shipping enterprise.
[32/99; 37/2002]
(6) In this section —
“approved” means approved by the Minister, or such person as he may appoint, subject to such conditions as he may impose;
“foreign ship” means a sea-going ship other than a Singapore ship within the meaning of section 13A(16);
“international shipping enterprise” means any company resident in Singapore owning or operating Singapore ships or foreign ships;
[29/2010 wef 22/02/2010]
[32/99; 24/2001; 37/2002]
“qualifying special purpose vehicle”, in relation to an approved international shipping enterprise, means —
(a)
an approved company —
(i)
which is incorporated and resident in Singapore; and
(ii)
at least 50% of the total number of the issued ordinary shares of which are beneficially owned, whether directly or indirectly, by —
(A)
the approved international shipping enterprise; or
(B)
a company which beneficially owns (whether directly or indirectly) at least 50% of the total number of the issued ordinary shares of the approved international shipping enterprise;
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
(b)
an approved company —
(i)
which is incorporated outside Singapore; and
(ii)
at least 25% of the total number of the issued ordinary shares of which are beneficially owned, whether directly or indirectly, by the approved international shipping enterprise;
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
(c)
an approved partnership —
(i)
which is registered or formed outside Singapore; and
(ii)
of which the approved international shipping enterprise is entitled, whether directly or indirectly, to at least 25% of its income;
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
(d)
an approved company —
(i)
which is incorporated and resident in Singapore, and at least 50% of the total number of the issued ordinary shares of which are beneficially owned directly by another approved company which is a qualifying special purpose vehicle by virtue of paragraph (a)(ii)(B); or
(ii)
which is incorporated outside Singapore, and at least 25% of the total number of the issued ordinary shares of which are beneficially owned directly by another approved company which is a qualifying special purpose vehicle by virtue of paragraph (a)(ii)(B); or
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
(e)
an approved partnership which is registered or formed outside Singapore and one of the partners of which is an approved company which is a qualifying special purpose vehicle by virtue of paragraph (a)(ii)(B), and is entitled to at least 25% of its income;
[22/2011 wef 22/02/2010]
“ship management services” has the same meaning as in section 13A(16);
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]
“special purpose company”, in relation to an approved international shipping enterprise, means a company that is wholly owned by the enterprise and whose only business or intended business is undertaking any operation referred to in subsection (1)(a), (b), (c) and (f), or any operation of a Singapore ship as defined in section 13A(16).
[Act 29 of 2012 wef 01/06/2011]