Singapore legislation
Regulation 2
of Income Tax (Shipping Enterprises — Section 13(4) Exemption) Notification 2025
Regulation 2
General definitions
Subregulation 1
In this Notification —
Definition
“applicable date”, in relation to an applicable loan or applicable finance lease, means the date on which the agreement for the applicable loan or the applicable finance lease is entered into;
Definition
“applicable finance lease” has the meaning given by paragraph 10;
Definition
“applicable loan” has the meaning given by paragraph 3(1) or 4(1), as the case may be;
Definition
“approved international shipping enterprise” has the meaning given by section 13E of the Act;
Definition
“approved shipping investment enterprise” has the meaning given by section 13P of the Act, and includes a partnership approved by the Minister (or any other person that the Minister may appoint) under section 13P of the Act as applied by section 36 of the Act;
Definition
“Authority” means the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore established by section 4 of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Act 1996;
Definition
“finance lease”, in relation to a ship, means a lease of the ship (including any arrangement or agreement made in connection with the lease) that has the effect of transferring substantially the obsolescence, risks or rewards incidental to the ownership of the ship to the lessee;
Definition
“foreign ship” means a ship that is not registered or provisionally registered or, in the case of a ship under construction, not intended to be registered, under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995;
Definition
“international shipping enterprise” has the meaning given by section 13E of the Act;
Definition
“pre‑delivery payment amount”, in relation to a ship that is under construction on the applicable date, means —
in the case of an applicable loan — the amount of a qualifying payment liable to be made by a shipping enterprise under the agreement for the applicable loan before the delivery of the ship to the shipping enterprise or its special purpose vehicle, being an amount attributable to the part of the loan that is for the financing of a purpose specified in paragraph 3(2); or
in the case of an applicable finance lease — the amount of a qualifying payment liable to be made by a shipping enterprise under the applicable finance lease before the delivery of the ship to the shipping enterprise, being an amount attributable to the lease of that ship;
Definition
“qualifying payment”, in relation to an agreement for an applicable loan or an applicable finance lease, means any of the following payments made in connection with the applicable loan or applicable finance lease:
either —
for the applicable loan — interest; or
for the applicable finance lease — any payment liable to be made by the lessee to the lessor under the finance lease that is not attributable to the repayment of principal;
front‑end fees;
commitment fees;
interest rate swap payments;
currency swap payments;
arranger fees;
arrangement fees;
retainer fees;
agency fees;
security trustee fees;
Definition
“relevant fees and costs” means —
any of the following fees or costs incurred to bring a ship under construction to a seaworthy state:
classification fees;
certification fees;
marine insurance costs;
supervision fees;
testing or commissioning fees; and
the costs incurred to purchase and install vessel navigation and safety equipment on board a ship;
Definition
“relevant premiums” means the insurance premiums payable to export credit agencies to guarantee a loan;
Definition
“shipping enterprise” means a company that owns or operates, or both owns and operates, one or more ships, and includes an approved international shipping enterprise and an approved shipping investment enterprise;
Definition
“shipping investment enterprise” has the meaning given by section 13P of the Act, and includes a partnership under section 13P of the Act as applied by section 36 of the Act;
Definition
“special purpose vehicle” means a company —
that is incorporated for the purpose of —
owning or operating any ship; or
both owning and operating any ship; or
whose only business is or is to be —
the owning or operating of any ship; or
both the owning and operating of any ship;
Definition
“specified person”, in relation to an applicable loan or applicable finance lease, means a person who —
is not resident in Singapore; and
either —
does not (alone or in association with others) carry on a business in Singapore, and does not have a permanent establishment in Singapore; or
carries on a business in Singapore (alone or in association with others) or has a permanent establishment in Singapore, but no arrangement, management or service relating to the applicable loan or applicable finance lease is made or performed through that business or permanent establishment.
Subregulation 2
For the purposes of this Notification, unless otherwise provided —
a ship meets the registration requirement if —
the ship is registered or provisionally registered under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; or
where the ship is under construction — the ship is to be registered or provisionally registered under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 before or upon completion of its construction; and
a ship is not regarded as registered or provisionally registered under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 if its registry under that Act is closed or deemed to be closed or is suspended.
Subregulation 3
In this Notification —
a reference to a ship that meets the registration requirement is a reference to a ship that meets such requirement on the applicable date;
a reference to a ship that is under construction includes a reference to a ship that is intended by the parties to the applicable loan or applicable finance lease (as the case may be) to be constructed;
a reference to a foreign ship is a reference to a ship that is a foreign ship on the applicable date; and
a reference to an applicable loan obtained by an approved international shipping enterprise or approved shipping investment enterprise (including a shipping enterprise that is both of these enterprises) includes a reference to an applicable loan obtained by the enterprise before it is approved as such.