Swedish Maritime opportunity to grow

The purpose is to give Swedish shipping companies in international traffic competitive conditions equal to those of shipping companies in other European countries.

Anders Boman, chairman of the Swedish Shipowners’ Association is very pleased with the tax proposal from the Government . The board sees the Government’s decision as a long term investment that will save and provide jobs in all the Swedish maritime cluster. He has considerable hope that the Government’s new Maritime Strategy alongside the tonnage tax system will contribute to the growth of Swedish shipping.

– We will continue to cooperate with the Government to achieve that goal, says Anders Boman. He also noted that the Minister’s stated ambition is for Sweden to become a strong maritime nation again.

– It’s been a long road for the introduction of tonnage tax in Sweden and many shipping companies have unfortunately during the voyage been forced to seek other solutions, says Anders Boman.

-With the clear signals the Government is now providing, we hope that our member companies can accommodate future for Swedish shipping. There is a great potential that we must seize.

Link to comments about the Swedish tonnage tax:

http://shippingwatch.com/carriers/article7989738.ece?utm_content=2015-09-03%2015%3A59%3A23&utm_medium=top&utm_source=Feed

The Government Offices of Sweden:

The Government to propose Swedish tonnage tax system In the Budget Bill for 2016, which is based on an agreement between the government parties and the Left Party, the Government will propose the introduction of a Swedish maritime tonnage tax system. The purpose is to give Swedish shipping companies in international traffic competitive conditions equal to those of shipping companies in other European countries. “I am pleased that we will have a maritime tonnage tax system in place and I look forward to seeing more Swedish-flagged ships. We know that this is very important in terms of jobs and it is a step along the way to achieving the lowest rate of unemployment in the European Union by 2020,” says Minister for Infrastructure Anna Johansson. The initiative will be funded within the infrastructure appropriations, half within the shipping industry. This will be done by adjusting maritime support and by subjecting to interest the accumulated excess depreciation of shipping companies when they enter the system. Maritime tonnage tax is state support which must be reported to and approved by the European Commission before being implemented. Therefore, the earliest date on which the new provisions can enter into force is 1 July 2016.