The Government has decided to stop refunding value added tax (VAT) for fishing boats which have capacity of more than 400 HP.
The decision was provided for in Decree 172 issued late last year to amend Decree 67, which was issued in 2014 to provide incentives for the seafood sector.
Decree 172 abolishes a provision of Decree 67 that gives value added tax (VAT) refunds to owners of newly-built and upgraded boats with capacity of 400 HP or above.
According to the new decree, the removal will be effective from February 15.
However, for boats that have been completed and transferred to their owners before January 1, 2015, their owners can still get VAT refunds based on the time of contract signing.
In case the boats were built or upgraded before January 1 last year without contracts, the VAT will be refunded based on invoices for goods and services related to works to build or upgrade the boats.
For boats which were completed and transferred to owners after January 1 or contracts signed after that, owners will not be allowed to get VAT refunds.