Section 225
Section 225: income from the business of operating qualifying ships
Section 225 is the opening provision of the Act's tonnage tax scheme for shipping companies. It lets a company that operates "qualifying ships" choose to compute the income from that business under the special tonnage tax rules in this Part of the Act, instead of the Act's general business-income provisions.
What the section provides
Irrespective of Sections 26 to 54 (except Sections 50 and 53), a company's income from the business of operating qualifying ships may, at its option, be computed under the provisions of this Part of the Act (the tonnage tax scheme).
Income so computed is deemed to be profits and gains of that business, chargeable to tax under the head "Profits and gains of business or profession".
What comes next in this Part
The following sections in this Part set out how the tonnage tax scheme actually works: how a company opts in (Section 231), how tonnage income is computed (Section 227), what counts as relevant shipping income (Section 228), depreciation treatment (Section 229), exclusions of ordinary deductions and losses (Section 230), the conditions a company must maintain to stay eligible (Section 232), and the rules for amalgamation, demerger and anti-avoidance (Sections 233-234).
Frequently asked questions
Is the tonnage tax scheme mandatory for shipping companies?
No. Section 225 makes it optional - a company operating qualifying ships "may, at its option" compute that business's income under the tonnage tax scheme instead of the Act's normal rules.
What head of income does tonnage tax income fall under?
It is deemed to be profits and gains of business chargeable under the head "Profits and gains of business or profession".
Related sections
Want this applied to your actual filing, not just explained?
Talk to our tax team about the tonnage tax schemeLast updated 9 September 2026