Shipping companies will have the option of paying a tonnage tax from 2010 if a proposed Taiwan's Ministry of Finance amendment to the Income Tax Act is passed. The ministry of finance will submit the amendment to the legislature when it meets again for the new session. If the amendment is passed, shipping companies will have to pay only one tenth of the taxes they currently pay. It is estimated that the reduction in taxes will be in the amount of roughly NT$2 billion (US$62 million), with the main beneficiaries of the new tonnage tax being the nation's top five shipping companies. The current tax structure stipulates that shipping companies must pay an income tax like all other businesses. But after the tonnage amendment takes effect, shipping companies will have the option of choosing to pay either regular corporate income taxes or the tonnage tax. Once a shipping company makes its choice, it must stick with it for 10 years, and cannot keep changing options depending on whether the company has earned a profit or loss. The tonnage tax is levied by reference to the tonnage of the ship being operated, rather than to whether the shipping company has made a profit or loss. Shipping companies making large profits are ideally situated to take advantage of the tonnage tax, since they will enjoy a much lighter tax burden. According to estimates, the five major shipping companies in Taiwan - including Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan) Ltd., Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., Wan Hai Lines Ltd. and U-Ming Marine Transport Corp. - will be able to save several hundred millions of New Taiwan dollars in taxes each year. The MOF proposal, however, says that if shipping companies opt for the tonnage tax, they can no longer enjoy either the “investment-incentive” or the “profit-loss cancellation” tax benefit. The Executive Yuan believes that the tonnage tax will help promote cross-strait shipping, and will induce former national carriers to register under the Taiwan flag once more. According to estimates released by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, after the tonnage tax takes effect, 30 shipping vessels are expected to re-register under the Taiwan flag, thus providing 540 new job opportunities. In addition, a further NT$2.7 billion in related business income taxes can be generated, as the shipping lines have their vessels serviced by local vessel maintenance companies. According to the MOF's proposal, the amendment will apply to national operators whose total tonnage capacity exceeds 300 tons. These operators and their wholly-owned subsidiaries must have no fewer than 20 percent of their ships carrying the national flag in the first four accounting years after they sign up to the tonnage tax.
