BRAZIL CANCELS FREIGHT TAX PLAN

BRAZIL CANCELS FREIGHT TAX PLAN

BRAZIL CANCELS FREIGHT TAX PLAN

      The Brazilian government has decided to drop plans to tax all international freight by as much as 15 percent.

      The Baltic and International Maritime Council, a group of 2,500 ocean carriers and ship agents, appealed to the Brazilian government to rescind these plans. “The tax would have had adverse effects on both imports and exports in the country,” said Thomas Timlen of BIMCO.

      Tax legislation introduced earlier this year calling for a withholding tax of 25 percent on payments made from Brazilian shippers to foreign carriers remains in effect. “Fortunately, we have received no reports of any carrier facing such large tax deductions,” Timlen said.