Tonnage profit determination

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The tonnage profit determination is a profit determination method for profits from the operation of merchant ships in international traffic. The legal basis is § 5a EStG .

The widespread name tonnage tax , which on the coming into many countries to apply tonnage tax is based, in the case of Germany so far not entirely correct, as it is not a separate tax acts, but simply a method to calculate the profit flat rate. If the conditions listed below are not met, the profit must be determined by comparing business assets in accordance with Section 4 (1) or Section 5 of the Income Tax Act .

The basis for determining the profit is the net tonnage , i.e. the size of the ship. Because the lump sum is less than one cent per ton, there is usually a lower tax burden than with taxation based on the usual profit determination . However, this tax burden must also be borne if no real profits are made from operating the ship (→ tax on assets ). Profits from the sale of the ship are recorded using the so-called difference , which is determined when the tonnage profit is determined.

background

The determination of tonnage profits was introduced in Germany with the Maritime Adjustment Act of September 9, 1998. The Federal Government at the time stated that the aim of the regulation was to "strengthen Germany as a shipping location" (promoting the industry and maritime financial service providers) by lowering the German tax level to an international level.

Previously, the subsidies to the German shipping industry were reduced from around 100 million DM to 30 million DM and later canceled. This made the operation of a merchant ship under the German flag less attractive. In the first two months of 1997 alone, around 50 merchant ships were flagged out of Germany , which corresponded to an annual quota in previous years. Flagging out (often to third world countries, e.g. to Antigua and Liberia ) has the advantage for shipowners that domestic laws (e.g. on the payment of employees) no longer apply and the rules are based on the country that was flagged out.

In return for the tax cut due to the determination of the tonnage profit, the federal government agreed with the German shipping companies that by the end of 2010 600 ships would again sail under the German flag. However, the number of ships operated under the German flag continued to decrease (at the end of 2010 it was still 439 ships) and the number of ships flagged out increased significantly.

EU regulation

In the 2004 state aid regulation, the EU Commission agreed that “all tax relief should be linked to the flying of a community flag”. In order to be promoted with a low taxation according to the tonnage profit determination, according to the EU regulation a maximum of 40 percent of the ships of a shipowner or a country may not fly an EU flag. The German government was criticized for allowing shipping companies to which this does not apply to determine the tonnage profit.

The following European countries have a regulation for determining the tonnage profit: The Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Spain, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Italy, Finland, Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Poland.

requirements

The profit can be determined on request according to the tonnage operated in the company ( net tonnage ). The application must be submitted informally to the responsible tax office . The application cannot be withdrawn and is binding on the owner for ten years.

The following requirements must be met:

  • The operation of merchant ships takes place in international traffic.
  • Transport of people (e.g. ferries ) or goods (e.g. containers , bulk goods )
  • The management is located in Germany.
  • The ship management (technical and commercial management) is carried out on German territory.
  • The ship is registered in a domestic shipping register.

Waving the German flag is not a requirement. Taxation based on tonnage can therefore also be claimed for ships that are flagged out. The targeted safeguarding of jobs and know-how is covered by the requirements mentioned.

calculation

The profit is per day of operation for a full 100 net tonnage (NRZ)

NRZ €
from to
1 1,000 0.92
1,001 10,000 0.69
10,001 25,000 0.46
25.001 unlimited 0.23

example

The following calculation of the tonnage gain relates to a ship of the London Express class (length approx. 294 m, 4,612  TEU , 32,908 net tonnage  ):

1,000 × € 0.92 / 100 + 9,000 × € 0.69 / 100 + 15,000 × € 0.46 / 100 + 7,908 × € 0.23 / 100 = 158.49 € tonnage gain / day

With 365 days of operation the result is a tonnage gain of (365 × € 158.49 =) rounded down € 57,848 per year. According to the 2011 income tax rate, there would be an income tax of € 16,124, regardless of how high the profit actually is that year.

Basically, a ship has 365 days of operation per year, but only after the ship is put into service or chartered . In addition, days of conversion or major repairs do not count as ship operating days (see BMF letter of 12 June 2002 cited below).

Because of the tax exemptions in § 4 No. 2 UStG and § 27 Abs. 1 No. 1 EnergieStG , shipping is practically exempt from sales tax and energy tax.

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NDR, Panorama No. 679: Subsidies in shipping - how politics spoils shipowners (PDF; 53 kB), March 15, 2007
  2. ↑ German Bundestag printed matter 17/4375: Answer of the federal government to the small question of the MPs Uwe Beckmeyer, Garrelt Duin, Heinz-Joachim Barchmann, other MPs and the parliamentary group of the SPD, January 2011 (PDF; 369 kB), p. 10/11
  3. ^ Backward pages: Billions in subsidies without consideration , May 31, 2011
  4. ↑ a b verdi-Report: Schiffahrt (PDF; 868 kB), Department of Transport, 4/2007, p. 10/11
  5. ↑ Commerz Real fund prospectus, CFB fund no. 169, page 60