To further promote the growth of the maritime sector, the Minister of Finance announced during the Budget 2011 Statement that automatic WHT exemption will, subject to conditions, be extended to qualifying payments made on or after 1 June 2011 in respect of qualifying loans entered into on or before 31 May 2016 with foreign lenders to finance the purchase or construction of Singapore-flagged and foreign-flagged vessels.
Benefits
Qualifying entities which obtain qualifying loans from foreign lenders are no longer required to apply for such exemption on a case-by-case basis during the period from 1 June 2011 to 31 May 2016.¹
Who is eligible
The exemption is available to:
• MSI-Shipping Enterprise (Singapore Registry of Ships) (MSI-SRS);
• MSI-Approved International Shipping Enterprise (MSI-AIS) companies; and
• MSI-Maritime Leasing (Ship) [MSI-ML(Ship)] entities.
How to qualify
Entities are required to submit a self-declaration form (the “Form”) for each loan obtained to inform the relevant authorities that the qualifying conditions have been met. The Form has to be submitted to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore by the 15th of the month following the first relevant payment due date to the non-resident lender. A copy of the Form (which sets out the qualifying conditions for the automatic WHT exemption) can be downloaded from the link below.
For more information on the automatic WHT exemption, please email imc_mpa@mpa.gov.sg
| Forms | Self Declaration Form |
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