The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a Circular bearing number 30/2016 on 26th August, 2016 for the purpose of streamlining the process of issue of No Objection Certificate (NOC), Port Clearance Certificate (PCC), Voyage Return and Voyage Assessment in case of Foreign Shipping Companies (FSCs). This prescribes guidelines for assessing officers to be followed for issue of said NOC leading to Port Clearance of ships belonging to foreign shipping companies. The assessment of voyage returns subsequently filed by the FSCs shall also be governed by the same.

The Circular has done away with the administrative requirement of obtaining a voyage NOC for foreign shipping companies entitled to 100% relief from payment of taxes in India on account of a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and the country to which the foreign shipping company belongs.

This Circular is another step by the CBDT towards further improving the ease of doing business in India for the foreign shipping companies.

No Objection Certificate process streamlined for foreign shipping companies, aligning PCC issuance with voyage return assessment and DTAA relief. The directive prescribes unified guidelines for assessing officers to issue No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Port Clearance Certificate (PCC) for foreign shipping companies and requires that the same framework govern assessment of subsequently filed voyage returns; it removes the administrative voyage NOC requirement for foreign shipping companies fully relieved from Indian tax under a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with their country of residence.