The EU commission starts an investigation on the Maltese regime of the tonnage tax



The EU commission has started an investigation deepened on the Maltese regime of the tonnage tax, that is the form of forfetaria taxation of the yield deriving from the exercise of marine activities in international traffic, with the objective to establish if the system adopted from Malta is compatible with the norms EU on the aids of State. The Commission wants to ascertain if, as it is worried, such favorable system of taxation is extended by Malta to other categories that - Brussels has explained - do not suffer from the same disadvantages of the operators whom they carry out determined types of marine activities and that therefore they cannot benefit of an abatement of tax.

"The Commission - the vice president of the EU commission has declared, Joaquín Almunia, in charge of the competition - is aware of the contribution of the field of the marine transport to the economy of the EU. Given the elevated exposure of the field to the competition of Third-country who reserves a fiscal treatment favorable to their companies of navigation, the EU has granted the possibility to reduce the taxes for the activities of marine transport. If of Malta - it has specified - the support measures are applied, between the other beneficiaries, to the yachts, the banks, the charters of ships. This does not seem justified from the point of view of the opportune competition neither in this moment of remarkable ristrettezze budgetary".

The EU commission has specified that the capacity of the Maltese regime of the tonnage tax appears excessive wide comprising the fishings boat, the oil pleasure crafts, platforms, the shipowners that are not engaged in some own activity of marine transport so as the charters of ships and the institutions financial institutions that supply loans and guarantees to shipowners, operators, manager or administrators of ships. Given the variety of possibility of exemptions and reductions - it has found Brussels - it seems that in some cases the fiscal cargo for a specific tonnage is inferior to Malta that in other States EU and this could return the Maltese system of tonnage tax more competitive regarding those junior clerks in the remainder of the EU. Moreover, second the Commission, not sussistono sufficient guarantees that the advantages conferred from the tonnage tax Maltese are not taken advantage of by the beneficiaries also for their activities to out of the field of the marine transports.

While the EU commission has established that a loan of 150 million zloty (37,5 million euros) conferred from governmental agency Polish Agencja Rozwoju Przemyslu KNOWS (ARP) to ship yard CRIST of Danzica is in compliance with the norms EU on the aids of State. The decision at the beginning reaches conclusion of a under way investigation of this year on the financings publics granted to the purchasers of the assets of the ship yard Stocznia Gdynia ( on 25 January 2012). Today the green light to the loan obtained from yard CRIST has arrived, while the EU commission has specified that the examination of the financings obtained from the Nauta yard is still in course.

At last the EU commission has approved of an Austrian program of public support to the rail shipment of the goods that previews the elargizione of deep for total 1.118 million euros in period 2012-2017.