The Shippers Council of East Africa (SCEA) has supported the Treasure’s plan to impose a 20 per cent withholding tax on demurrage charges paid to foreign shipping lines, saying it will discourage unfair practices. In the new tax measures proposed by Treasury secretary Henry Rotich last week, the income tax will be amended to subject payments for demurrage charges made to non-resident persons to withholding tax at a rate of 20 per cent.
This means that foreign shipping firms will be pay a 20 per cent of the demurrage charges they receive to the government.
