a) Whether demurrage charges are part of freight or rent for use of containers,

(b) Whether the Principal of the Appellant who is a non- resident derived any income from Kenya.

(c) Whether the Appellant was liable to withhold tax while remitting demurrages,

On the first issue the Appellant submits that embarked empty containers in a ship are akin to embarked cargo and that for all intent and purposes, containers are part and parcel of the cargo and cannot be treated in any other way other than that which the main cargo has been treated.

The demurrage charges in this case were paid in relation to containers owned by a shipping line, CMA CGM S.A. a company resident in France that were embarked into a ship at the port of Mombasa for the purposes of being returned to the ship owner and the role of the Appellant is to collect demurrage from the customers who do not return the containers within the stipulated time.

The Appellant also argues that in the shipping industry, demurrage charges are not consideration for use of property (containers) but rather compensation for the loss of profits occasioned by delay and detention of containers.

The Appellant submits that demurrage is business income of the ship owner as fees charged for delay in returning a container within the agreed time and the charges are intended to compensate for the loss of profits occasioned by the delay and detention of containers beyond the agreed time.

This Appeal lacks merit and is hereby dismissed with no order as to costs.