国际会计和航运顾问穆尔.斯蒂芬斯说，英国财政预算案2012包含了航运业的一些令人鼓舞的迹象。
政府表示，稍后会征询是否引入一个规则，允许公司用非英镑功能的货币计算的资本收益和损失等功能货币，而不像是当前情况下仅仅是英镑。穆尔.斯蒂芬斯税务合伙人，比尔 苏说："这个规则，和一些英国拥有英国吨位税制以外的船只公司尤其相关，这些公司要么是因为该公司没有选到吨位税，或因船舶不符合吨位税，例如，因为它是租用了一个长期的光船租赁，或者是那种被吨位税排除在外的船舶，如渔船。由于目前所有的资本收益以英镑计算，有一些公司有不同的功能性货币，其资本收益和损失将包括汇兑收益或损失。这方面将在规则中非常大地改变，将最大限度地减少应税资本收益（或减少）的汇率走势产生的变动。"
预算案提出的另一个变化是，降低公司税税率，在2012年4月的基础上再额外地每年降低1%。这意味着税率在2012年4月为24％，在2013年4月和2014年4月将会降至23%和22％。政府已表示，它预计这一措施将增加企业在英国投资的水平约1%。
政府还宣布了一项内部审查，审查员工持股的作用，在支持经济增长，并在其广泛采取行动从而消除障碍方面的作用，包括税收障碍。但是，任何此类审查可能出现的结果目前仍然是尚不清楚。
比尔 苏说，"一般情况下，预算案强调了政府对于，确保英国行业竞争力制度的重要性的重视，以及"平衡"的经济。对航运业来说这是一个令人鼓舞的迹象，同时我们也正在等待英国吨位税制得资讯讨论和即将举行的欧盟国家援助指引海运咨询。"
Moore Stephens: UK Budget "encouraging" for Shipping
The government has stated that it will consult later this year on whether to introduce a rule allowing companies with a non-sterling functional currency to compute their capital gains and losses in such functional currency, rather than in sterling, as is currently the case. Moore Stephens tax partner, Sue Bill, says, "This is of particular relevance for UK companies which own vessels outside the UK tonnage tax regime, either because the company did not elect into tonnage tax, or because the ship does not qualify for tonnage tax, for example because it is chartered out on a long-term bareboat charter, or is a type of vessel excluded from tonnage tax such as a fishing vessel. As all capital gains are currently calculated in sterling, where a company has a different functional currency its capital gains and losses will include an exchange gain or loss. This possible change in the rules would minimise taxable capital gains arising due to (or being reduced by) exchange rate movements."
Another change introduced by the Budget is a reduction in corporation tax rate by an additional one per cent from April 2012. This means that the rate will be 24 per cent from April 2012, reducing to 23 per cent in April 2013 and 22 per cent in April 2014. The government has said that it expects this measure to increase the level of business investment in the UK by approximately one per cent.
The government has also announced an internal review to examine the role of employee ownership in supporting growth and to look at options to remove barriers, including tax barriers, to its wider take-up. However, the likely outcome of any such review remains unclear at present.
Sue Bill says, "Generally, the Budget has emphasised the importance which the government attaches to ensuring that the UK is a competitive regime for industry, and of ‘rebalancing’ the economy. This is an encouraging sign for the shipping industry, which is awaiting consultation on the UK tonnage tax regime and the forthcoming EU review of the State Aid Guidelines to Maritime Transport."
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