("ais") incentive - Watson, Farley & Williams

WATSON, FARLEY & WILLIAMS LLP
be actively engaged in commercial operations (e.g. as the charterer of one or
more of the relevant vessels) - however, whether these requirements are imposed
depend on the individual circumstances of the case.
4 Under the AISE Incentive Scheme, in order to provide tax certainty for shipping
operations in Singapore, AISE status will be granted on a case-by-case basis to
qualifying shipping companies for an initial period of ten years (subject to review
after five years) and may be extended thereafter for up to a further ten + ten year
period. In his 2006 Budget Speech, the Minister of Finance extended the
maximum period of the incentive from 20 years to 30 years (with effect from
2007).
5 Originally the AISE Incentive Scheme was only available to shipping companies
which owned and/or operated cargo vessels but:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
from the year of assessment 2000, it was extended to cover floating storage and
offloading vessels as well as floating production storage and offloading vessels;
from the year of assessment 2003, it was extended to cover towage vessels or
salvage ships
from the year of assessment 2005, it was extended to cover dredgers, seismic
vessels and oil rigs (as well as any other vessels used for offshore oil and gas
activity); and
in his Budget speech on 18 February 2005, the Minister for Finance announced
that the Incentive Scheme would be expanded to ship leasing companies.
Currently, this extension is limited to operating leases; it does not extend to
finance leasing arrangements.
6 In line with Singapore’s overall strategy of striving for quality, it is stated policy that
only established international shipping companies with “worldwide networks” and
“a good track record” will be considered under the AISE Incentive Scheme.
5