SolvedTTM03920 | Qualifying companies and ships: Flagging - condition 2
From HM Revenue & Customs · Tonnage Tax Manual
FA00/SCH22A/PARA22A (3)
These EU/EEA 'flagging' rules were repealed by FA22/S25 (6) and (7) with effect from 1 April 2022
The second condition to be considered was whether the proportion of the company’s total tonnage that was flagged on a relevant register (EU/EEA plus UK and Gibraltar) was on average less than 60% over a period beginning with the start of that financial year and ending on the day the company began to operate the new ship.
The percentage of a company’s total tonnage which is a relevant register was:
CFT x 100 ÷ TT
where:
CFT was the aggregate tonnage of such of the relevant ships that are registered on a relevant register
TT was the aggregate tonnage of all the relevant ships.
The relevant ships were the ships operated by the company or, where the company was a member of a tonnage tax group, the ships operated by all the qualifying companies in that group (see FA00/SCH22/PARA22B (4)).
A company was regarded as operating any ship owned by, or chartered to, the company. All vessels, whether owned, bareboat chartered or time chartered, had to be included as relevant vessels for all purposes of the calculation above.
‘On average’ meant taking the period in the financial year as a whole, not looking at the position solely on the day the new vessel began to be operated. For example:
On 1 April 2008 the total gross tonnage of ships operated by a company is 400,000 tons. The company’s vessels in tonnage tax have gross tonnage of 300,000 tons. (The difference is explained by ships that are not qualifying for tonnage tax).
The company has relevant register vessels with aggregate gross tonnage of 250,000.
On 1 August 2008 the company begins to operate a new vessel of 30,000 gross tons. The new vessel is not on a relevant register.
| Date | Total | On relevant register | Not on relevant register | % on relevant register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4.08 to 31.07.08 | 400,000 | 250,000 | 150,000 | 62.5 |
| 01.08.08 | 430,000 | 250,000 | 180,000 | 58.2 |
The relevant percentage was computed using gross ton days.
The period from 1 April 08 to 31 July 08 is 122 days.
| Description | Calculation | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Total tonnage is: | 400,000 x 122 | = 48,800,000 |
| Total on relevant register is: | 250,000 x 122 | = 30,500,000 |
The period in PARA22A (3) ends on 1 August 2008 when the company begins to operate the new ship.
| Description | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| On 1 August | total tonnage is: | 430,000 |
| Total relevant register tonnage is: | - | 250,000 |
To compute the average add the total tonnage on 1 August to the total tonnage for the four months to 31 July, giving:
| Description | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Total tonnage: | (48,800,000 +430,000) TT = | 49,230,000, |
| Total relevant register tonnage: | (30,500,000 +250,000) CFT = | 30,750,000 |
The average total relevant register vessels as a percentage of total tonnage is 62.46.
In this case condition 2 was not satisfied as over 60% of the tonnage was flagged on a relevant register. As a result the vessel did not need to be on a relevant register to be a qualifying ship.
For guidance on relevant registers see TTM03945.
The legislation was amended by SI2020/332 to maintain its effect following departure from the EU/EEA, referring to relevant registers, but was repealed by FA22 with effect from 1 April 2022.