Income Tax Act 1947 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 7 · Ascertainment of Certain Income
27. Profits of non‑resident shipowner or charterer
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2016.
Where a non‑resident person carries on the business of shipowner or charterer, the income on which tax is payable is to be ascertained as provided in this section.
Where, for any period, the non‑resident person produces a certificate complying with subsection (3) —
the profits accruing in Singapore from the business for that period are deemed to be a sum bearing the same ratio to the sums receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods shipped in Singapore as the total profits for that period bear to the total sum receivable by the non‑resident person in respect of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods, as shown by the certificate; and
the depreciation allowable against such profits is similarly deemed to be a sum bearing the same ratio to the sums receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods shipped in Singapore as the total depreciation for that period bears to the total sum receivable by the non‑resident person in respect of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods, as shown by the certificate.
The certificate referred to in subsection (2) —
must be one issued by or on behalf of the income tax authority of the place of residence of the non‑resident person;
is acceptable for the purposes of this section only where the Comptroller is satisfied that the relevant income tax authority —
computes and assesses the full profits of the non‑resident person from the non‑resident person’s shipping business on a basis not materially different from the basis of assessment provided by this Act for the assessment of a resident of Singapore carrying on a similar business; and
accepts any certificate issued by the Comptroller for the purpose of computing the profits derived by a resident of Singapore from carrying on the business of a shipowner or charterer and assesses the income of that resident on the basis of and without making any adjustment to the profits or loss or the allowance for depreciation as stated in the certificate issued by the Comptroller and in the same manner as the income of the non‑resident person is assessed under subsection (2); and
must contain, in respect of the relevant accounting period, the following information:
the ratio of the profits or, where there are no profits, of the loss, as computed for the purposes of income tax by that authority, without making any allowance by way of depreciation, to the total sum receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods;
the ratio of the allowance for depreciation as computed by that authority to that total sum receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods.
Where, for any period, a non‑resident person does not, for any reason, produce a certificate complying with subsection (3), the profits accruing in Singapore are deemed to be a sum equal to 5% of the full sum receivable on account of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods shipped in Singapore.
Where a non‑resident person has been assessed under subsection (4) because a certificate had not been issued at the time of assessment, the non‑resident person is entitled, on the subsequent production of such a certificate to claim at any time within 2 years after the end of such year of assessment, or such further time as the Comptroller may consider reasonable in the circumstances, that the non‑resident person’s liability to tax for the year be determined on the basis provided by subsection (2).
year of assessment
“year of assessment” means the period of 12 months commencing on 1 January 1948, and each subsequent period of 12 months.
Where the Comptroller decides that the call of a ship (within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995) belonging to a particular non‑resident shipowner or charterer at a port in Singapore is casual and that further calls by that ship or others in the same ownership are improbable, this section does not apply to the profits of that ship and no tax is chargeable on them.
Comptroller
“Comptroller” means the Comptroller of Income Tax appointed under section 3(1) and includes, for all purposes of this Act except the exercise of the powers conferred upon the Comptroller by sections 34F(9), 37L(7), 37M(5), 67(1)(a), 95, 96, 96A and 101, a Deputy Comptroller or an Assistant Comptroller so appointed;
Despite anything in subsections (1) to (6), if in computing the profits derived by a resident in Singapore from carrying on the business of a shipowner or charterer, the tax authority of a foreign country determines such profits to be an amount which exceeds 5% of the full sum receivable on account of the carriage of passengers, mail, livestock and goods shipped in that foreign country, the Minister may if he or she thinks fit direct that, in computing the profits derived in Singapore by a non‑resident shipowner or charterer who is resident in that foreign country, the Comptroller must determine the amount of such profits in such manner as may be substantially similar to that adopted by the tax authority of that foreign country.