Newsfront – Greek Shipping Intelligence Vol. 15 / No. 37 – Manolis Eglezos & Associates
Some 478 Greek shipping companies will by the end of the month begin paying an additional
voluntary tax to the country’s treasury, under the agreement hammered out between the Union of
Greek Shipowners and the Athens government mid-2013.
For the period between 2014 and 2017, owners are to pay $132.2m (€105m) annually, making
their total contribution for the period $528m. The tonnage new tax is a double tax as it is in addition
to the standard tonnage tax which will continue to be paid.
Though the agreement has taken some time to be put into place, Shipping and Aegean minister,
Miltiadis Varvitsiotis noted there was “no other sector that has made a voluntary contribution to the
Greek budget”. He said: “I will be thanking Greek shipping for their contribution.”
In July 2013, the UGS agreed with Prime minister Antonis Samaras to increase their tax contributions
on a “voluntary basis” for three years. But when the necessary legislation was tabled in parliament
at the end of 2013 the tax had become “mandatory”, leading to an outcry from the UGS and
London’s Greek Shipping Cooperation Committee (GSCC).
Greece’s shipping tax regime enjoys constitutional protection, in light of the importance of the
business to the country’s economy. Shipping and tourism are Greece’s biggest foreign currency
earners, earning the country about $16bn last year. Before the crisis the income was above $24bn.
Theodore Veniamis, the UGS president, described the original legislation as “a constitutional
deviation”. Haralambos J. Fafalios, chairman of the GSCC said the mandatory higher tonnage tax
was “unconstitutional” and “could have very significant long term ramifications” for the Greek flag.
Both spoke of the breakdown in trust and cooperation between the government and the maritime
community. Veniamis declared a negative climate had been created “for any type of business investment
in Greece, since the legal stability of the institutional framework is a prerequisite for any
prudent investor”.
Now after an amendment was submitted to the Greek parliament, September 30, the shipowners’
contribution will start going into the country’s coffers.
In the amendment, the word “voluntary” was added next to “contribution”, while the payment
window was stretched by a year, starting from the end of October.
The last installment will be handed over in February 2017, so as to be accounted for in the 2016
budget.
UGS AND MARINAKIS SAID TO BE TARGETS OF URBAN GUERILLA GROUP
Greek police have detained a suspect allegedly linked to a planned attack on the Union of Greek
Shipowners, the Capital Product Partners chairman, Evangelos Marinakis and the chairman of the
Federation of Greek Industries, Theodoros Fessas.
Police said evidence in the possession of the suspect indicated the attacks had been planned for
October 4. The arrested, unidentified man aged between 25 and 30 is a suspected accomplice of the
leader of left wing Revolutionary Struggle group, Nikos.
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