CARNIVAL PLC

A summary of our principal taxes and exemptions in the jurisdictions where our significant operations are located is as follows:

a. U.S. Income Tax

We are primarily foreign corporations engaged in the business of operating cruise ships in international transportation. We also own and operate, among other businesses, the U.S. hotel and transportation business of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours through U.S. corporations.

Our North American cruise ship businesses and certain ship-owning subsidiaries are engaged in a trade or business within the U.S. Depending on its itinerary, any particular ship may generate income from sources within the U.S. We believe that our U.S. source income and the income of our ship-owning subsidiaries, to the extent derived from, or incidental to, the international operation of a ship or ships, is currently exempt from U.S. federal income and branch profit taxes.

Our domestic U.S. operations, principally the hotel and transportation business of Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, are subject to federal and state income taxation in the U.S.

We do not believe we were a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”), within the meaning of Section 1297 of the Internal Revenue Code, for the 2023 taxable year and do not currently expect to be a PFIC in the 2024 taxable year.

1. Application of Section 883 of the Internal Revenue Code

In general, under Section 883 of the Internal Revenue Code, certain non-U.S. corporations (such as our North American cruise ship businesses) are not subject to U.S. federal income tax or branch profits tax on U.S. source income derived from, or incidental to, the international operation of a ship or ships. Applicable U.S. Treasury regulations provide in general that a foreign corporation will qualify for the benefits of Section 883 if, in relevant part, (i) the foreign country in which the foreign corporation is organized grants an equivalent exemption to corporations organized in the U.S. in respect of each category of shipping income for which an exemption is being claimed under Section 883 (an “equivalent exemption jurisdiction”) and (ii) the foreign corporation meets a defined publicly-traded corporation stock ownership test (the “publicly-traded test”). Subsidiaries of foreign corporations that are organized in an equivalent exemption jurisdiction and meet the publicly-traded test also benefit from Section 883. We believe that Panama is an equivalent exemption jurisdiction and that Carnival Corporation currently satisfies the publicly-traded test under the regulations. Accordingly, substantially all of Carnival Corporation’s income is exempt from U.S. federal income and branch profit taxes.

Regulations under Section 883 list certain activities that the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) does not consider to be incidental to the international operation of ships and, therefore, the income attributable to such activities, to the extent such income is U.S. source, does not qualify for the Section 883 exemption. Among the activities identified as not incidental are income from the sale of air transportation, transfers, shore excursions and pre- and post-cruise land packages to the extent earned from sources within the U.S.

2. Exemption Under Applicable Income Tax Treaties

We believe that the U.S. source transportation income earned by Carnival plc and its subsidiaries currently qualifies for exemption from U.S. federal income tax under applicable bilateral U.S. income tax treaties.

3. U.S. State Income Tax

Carnival Corporation, Carnival plc and certain subsidiaries are subject to various U.S. state income taxes generally imposed on each state’s portion of the U.S. source income subject to U.S. federal income taxes. However, the state of Alaska imposes an income tax on its allocated portion of the total income of our companies doing business in Alaska and certain of their subsidiaries.

b. UK and Australian Income Tax

Cunard, P&O Cruises (UK) and P&O Cruises (Australia) are divisions of Carnival plc and have elected to enter UK tonnage tax regime under a rolling ten-year term and, accordingly, reapply every year. Companies to which the tonnage tax regime applies pay corporation taxes on profits calculated by reference to the net tonnage of qualifying ships. UK corporation tax is not chargeable under the normal UK tax rules on these brands’ relevant shipping income. Relevant shipping income includes income from the operation of qualifying ships and from shipping related activities.

For a company to be eligible for the regime, it must be subject to UK corporation tax and, among other matters, operate qualifying ships that are strategically and commercially managed in the UK. Companies within UK tonnage tax are also subject to a seafarer training requirement.

Our UK non-shipping activities that do not qualify under the UK tonnage tax regime remain subject to normal UK corporation tax.

P&O Cruises (Australia) and all of the other cruise ships operated internationally by Carnival plc for the cruise segment of the Australian vacation region are exempt from Australian corporation tax by virtue of the UK/Australian income tax treaty.

c. Italian and German Income Tax

In 2015, Costa and AIDA re-elected to enter the Italian tonnage tax regime through 2024 and can reapply for an additional 10-year period beginning in early 2025. Companies to which the tonnage tax regime applies pay corporation taxes on shipping profits calculated by reference to the net tonnage of qualifying ships.

Most of Costa’s and AIDA’s earnings that are not eligible for taxation under the Italian tonnage tax regime will be taxed at an effective tax rate of 4.8% in 2023 and 2022.

Substantially all of AIDA’s earnings are exempt from German income taxes by virtue of the Germany/Italy income tax treaty.

d. Global Minimum Tax

In December 2021, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”) issued Model Rules for implementation of a 15% minimum tax for multinational enterprises as part of its initiative intended to address the tax challenges arising from globalization. A number of countries, including the UK and EU member states, have agreed to adopt the OECD’s minimum tax rules and several countries, including the UK, have already implemented these rules. The phased implementation of these rules could affect us in 2026 with the potential for a one-year deferral. Prior to any mitigating actions, we believe the annual impact could be approximately $200 million. The application of the rules continues to evolve, and its outcome may alter our tax obligations in certain countries in which we operate. We continue to evaluate the impact of these rules and are currently evaluating a variety of mitigating actions to minimize the impact.

e. Other

In addition to or in place of income taxes, virtually all jurisdictions where our ships call impose taxes, fees and other charges based on guest counts, ship tonnage, passenger capacity or some other measure.