Ian Mearns – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme were registered under each flag in category one of the Red Ensign Group in each year since 2008-09.

Mr Robert Goodwill

There is no direct requirement as to the country of registration of vessels entered in the tonnage tax scheme. While the tonnage tax has helped in the revival of the UK shipping register, it has also attracted inward investment from companies operating vessels of other flags, which we welcome. The identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, and that confidentiality could be compromised by giving a detailed breakdown by flag of the numbers of qualifying vessels in any year.