On 1 July 2013, the Dutch Government re-opened the highly
successful temporary accelerated depreciation tax facility that was
first introduced in December 2008, to stimulate investments in the
Netherlands. From 2009 through 2011, the regime allowed tax
depreciation of 100 per cent of the economic useful life of
qualifying new assets over a period as short as two years. Although
the re-opened tax facility is generic in nature (i.e. applies to
all assets, with some exclusions), the shipping sector, in
particular, has benefited significantly from it. Reportedly, 80
vessels have been built while taking advantage of the regime that
was in place during the period 2009 to 2011.
The reintroduced facility will be limited to 50 per cent tax
depreciation and will (for now) be in place until the end of 2013.
The asset must be acquired in 2013 (that is, the investment
commitment must be entered into during 2013) and the asset must be
operational before 1 January 2016. This period
