EU mandated spending cuts raise taxes on all shipping operations apart from the agreed doubled tonnage tax
- In Greece, shipping industry contributes 7 percent to the nation’s economic output
- Greek shipping firms are unhappy about the Athen’s plans to raise taxes on shipping operations. This has made the eurozone nation a less desirable place for the firms to operate
- Greek shipping firms have earlier agreed to double their tonnage tax for the next two years in compromise for the Greece bailout
- With the new tax proposal shipping firms must increase their tonnage tax incrementally as well as apply taxes to all shipping operations including their profits and the funds earned from ship sales
- As an effect of this tax raise, shipping companies are threatening to move their operations to places like Cyprus or London, where the tax regimes are low
Greek officials are working to meet the bailout without imposing a tax on the shipping sector, as it would do significant damage to the nation’s recovery.
Source: Benzinga
