27.—(1) Where a non-resident person carries on the business of shipowner or charterer, the income on which tax is payable shall be ascertained as provided in this section.
(2) Where, for any period, the non-resident person produces a certificate complying with subsection (3) —
(a)
the profits accruing in Singapore from the business for that period shall be deemed to be a sum bearing the same ratio to the sums receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods shipped in Singapore as the total profits for that period bear to the total sum receivable by him in respect of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods, as shown by the certificate; and
(b)
the depreciation allowable against such profits shall similarly be deemed to be a sum bearing the same ratio to the sum receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods shipped in Singapore as the total depreciation for the period bears to the total sum receivable by him in respect of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods, as shown by the certificate.
(3) The certificate referred to in subsection (2) shall —
(a)
be one issued by or on behalf of the income tax authority of the place of residence of the non-resident person;
(b)
be acceptable for the purposes of this section only where the Comptroller is satisfied that the relevant income tax authority —
(i)
computes and assesses the full profits of the non-resident person from his shipping business on a basis not materially different from the basis of assessment provided by this Act for the assessment of a resident of Singapore carrying on a similar business; and
(ii)
accepts any certificate issued by the Comptroller for the purpose of computing the profits derived by a resident of Singapore from carrying on the business of a shipowner or charterer and assesses the income of that resident on the basis of and without making any adjustment to the profits or loss or the allowance for depreciation as stated in the certificate issued by the Comptroller and in the same manner as the income of the non-resident person is assessed under subsection (2);
(c)
contain, in respect of the relevant accounting period, the following information:
(i)
the ratio of the profits or, where there are no profits, of the loss, as computed for the purposes of income tax by that authority, without making any allowance by way of depreciation, to the total sum receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods;
(ii)
the ratio of the allowance for depreciation as computed by that authority to that total sum receivable in respect of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods.
[5/83]
(4) Where, for any period, a non-resident person does not, for any reason, produce a certificate complying with subsection (3), the profits accruing in Singapore shall be deemed to be a sum equal to 5% of the full sum receivable on account of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods shipped in Singapore.
(4A) Where a non-resident person has been assessed under subsection (4) because a certificate had not been issued at the time of assessment, he shall be entitled, on the subsequent production of such a certificate to claim at any time within 2 years after the end of such year of assessment, or such further time as the Comptroller may consider reasonable in the circumstances, that his liability to tax for the year be determined on the basis provided by subsection (2).
(5) Where the Comptroller decides that the call of a ship belonging to a particular non-resident shipowner or charterer at a port in Singapore is casual and that further calls by that ship or others in the same ownership are improbable, this section shall not apply to the profits of that ship and no tax shall be chargeable on them.
(6) Notwithstanding anything in subsections (1) to (5), if in computing the profits derived by a resident in Singapore from carrying on the business of a shipowner or charterer, the tax authority of a foreign country determines such profits to be an amount which exceeds 5% of the full sum receivable on account of the carriage of passengers, mails, livestock and goods shipped in that foreign country, the Minister may if he thinks fit direct that, in computing the profits derived in Singapore by a non-resident shipowner or charterer who is resident in that foreign country, the Comptroller shall determine the amount of such profits in such manner as may be substantially similar to that adopted by the tax authority of that foreign country.