A new twist to the Spanish Matriculation tax

[CaptainB]

Hi Guys
I thought you would be interested in, what to me, is a new twist in the bizarre fiasco of the Spanish Mat tax.
I am a professional full time skipper of a 22m motor yacht based in Mallorca. Until last year my boss was a Spanish resident (although he is English) and consequently got stung for the tax, even though we do not charter.
We have a new boat due to arrive soon (28m, lucky me) and my boss is now resident in the UK.
Now here is the twist. As I am a Spanish resident, if I drive the boat (my job), I become personally liable to pay the 12% tax on the new multi million euro vessel!!!!!!!
Are these people completely insane?!
There are many, many guys here in the same situation. If you are resident and you drive a vessel owned by a non resident entity (individual or company) YOU have to pay the tax! Effectively, I can loose my house because of my, legitimate job!!
No wonder there are so many empty berths here.
I may well be forced to quit my job. There is no logic to this at all.
In order to keep my job on the island...........I have to leave the island!!
If I had any hair, I would have torn it out by now.

 

[pappaecho]

Read carefully Article 81 of the treaty of Rome 1956. It is an EU offence to apply "differing conditions to equivalent transactions thus cause a Restraint on Trade.

Write to the EU Commissioner on Trade in Brussels, making a formal complaint and keep a copy. The total cost will be a postage stamp. If the Spanish Authorities contact you send them a copy and say "sub judice".

President Sarkosy in France tried similar with "second home owners" and quickly backed down when similar complaints were received in Brussels

 

[John100156]

This is utter madness, what is 12% on your contribution toward purchasing this vessel:- 12/100 x 0 = 0...... Oh if only life was that simple in Spain, this year they increased the IVA on marina berths at MDL's marina in Sant Carles from 8% to 18%, are they trying to tell us something.

 

[Hurricane]

Hi Guys
I thought you would be interested in, what to me, is a new twist in the bizarre fiasco of the Spanish Mat tax.
I am a professional full time skipper of a 22m motor yacht based in Mallorca. Until last year my boss was a Spanish resident (although he is English) and consequently got stung for the tax, even though we do not charter.
We have a new boat due to arrive soon (28m, lucky me) and my boss is now resident in the UK.
Now here is the twist. As I am a Spanish resident, if I drive the boat (my job), I become personally liable to pay the 12% tax on the new multi million euro vessel!!!!!!!
Are these people completely insane?!
There are many, many guys here in the same situation. If you are resident and you drive a vessel owned by a non resident entity (individual or company) YOU have to pay the tax! Effectively, I can loose my house because of my, legitimate job!!
No wonder there are so many empty berths here.
I may well be forced to quit my job. There is no logic to this at all.
In order to keep my job on the island...........I have to leave the island!!
If I had any hair, I would have torn it out by now.

I think I heard something recently that twists this the other way.
This is what I heard
"If you own a Spanish registered boat as a non Spanish resident, you can now legally drive it yourself so now you dont need to be a Spanish resident to drive it"
I think this was the recent change.

But I see your point - we were in Mahon a couple of months ago - its like a ghost town.

 

[lovezoo]

I don't think you can complain if the Spanish tax authorities apply the same tax rules to you as they do to the natives. Basically, if you live in Spain you have to pay Spanish tax just like the natives do (i.e. do everything you possibly can to avoid paying any at all).

Whether "matriculation tax" is a good idea and helps or harms the economy is another question, but you really can't live in a foreign country and expect to be treated like you are still living at home.

 

[cem]

I don't think you can complain if the Spanish tax authorities apply the same tax rules to you as they do to the natives. Basically, if you live in Spain you have to pay Spanish tax just like the natives do (i.e. do everything you possibly can to avoid paying any at all).

Whether "matriculation tax" is a good idea and helps or harms the economy is another question, but you really can't live in a foreign country and expect to be treated like you are still living at home.

read the opening post again....he drives the boat he does not own it!!!

 

[Hurricane]

Now here is the twist. As I am a Spanish resident, if I drive the boat (my job), I become personally liable to pay the 12% tax on the new multi million euro vessel!!!!!!!

Just thinking about this
On what grounds do the authorities insist that you pay someone else's tax?

I know that the Spanish have a habit of acting first and then waiting for you to react but I would have thought this was worth fighting.
I presume that they would put a discrete prescinto (if thats how you spell it) on the boat if you dont pay up.
Surely they cant do that to someone else's boat?????

 

[ccscott49]

Hi Guys
I thought you would be interested in, what to me, is a new twist in the bizarre fiasco of the Spanish Mat tax.
I am a professional full time skipper of a 22m motor yacht based in Mallorca. Until last year my boss was a Spanish resident (although he is English) and consequently got stung for the tax, even though we do not charter.
We have a new boat due to arrive soon (28m, lucky me) and my boss is now resident in the UK.
Now here is the twist. As I am a Spanish resident, if I drive the boat (my job), I become personally liable to pay the 12% tax on the new multi million euro vessel!!!!!!!
Are these people completely insane?!
There are many, many guys here in the same situation. If you are resident and you drive a vessel owned by a non resident entity (individual or company) YOU have to pay the tax! Effectively, I can loose my house because of my, legitimate job!!
No wonder there are so many empty berths here.
I may well be forced to quit my job. There is no logic to this at all.
In order to keep my job on the island...........I have to leave the island!!
If I had any hair, I would have torn it out by now.

So, if you clean the boat, then you are also liable for paying the tax? After all you are working on it! Its your job.

 

[Renegade_Master]

Hi Guys
I thought you would be interested in, what to me, is a new twist in the bizarre fiasco of the Spanish Mat tax.
I am a professional full time skipper of a 22m motor yacht based in Mallorca. Until last year my boss was a Spanish resident (although he is English) and consequently got stung for the tax, even though we do not charter.
We have a new boat due to arrive soon (28m, lucky me) and my boss is now resident in the UK.
Now here is the twist. As I am a Spanish resident, if I drive the boat (my job), I become personally liable to pay the 12% tax on the new multi million euro vessel!!!!!!!
Are these people completely insane?!
There are many, many guys here in the same situation. If you are resident and you drive a vessel owned by a non resident entity (individual or company) YOU have to pay the tax! Effectively, I can loose my house because of my, legitimate job!!
No wonder there are so many empty berths here.
I may well be forced to quit my job. There is no logic to this at all.
In order to keep my job on the island...........I have to leave the island!!
If I had any hair, I would have torn it out by now.

Its not a new twist its always been there Two examples, I know an enslish skipper of a 110ft Navetta which was based in Banus. Now the owner is south african and the boat is registered SA.
However as I warned the skipper, but you are a UK citizen without question living and working in spain, you are deemed a fiscal resident. Therefore if you get caught
driving the boat they will come after you for the tax. 18 months ago the owner moved her to Gib, because of the increased activities of the guardia in Banus, either because of his skippers status or maybe his changed in that he had become resident for more the 183 days in spain so he would be deemed a fiscal resident. He is now selling both his 30 metre berths on pantalan O in banus

Second example our school boat british reg and british owned, (the owner is not a resident)
stays overnight is Ceuta the spanish port in morocco. Skipper not realising whips out his residencia card not his passport. Next day back in our spanish port a "Pricento" notice appears on the boat denouncing the skipper and demanding the mat tax from him.

Naturally we said he was working for us and we paid the bill €11,500

Problem is whilst they have collected millions of euros from this tax, the have alienated so many boat owners, that many have left spain, take Mahon for instance.

 

[lovezoo]

read the opening post again....he drives the boat he does not own it!!!

And if you read my post I say that if you live in Spain you can't expect to be treated differently to the locals. If a local can't drive a foreign boat which has no mat tax paid, then a foreigner living in Spain can't expect to either.

Otherwise what is to stop Pedro buying a big boat in the UK, shipping it out to Spain without mat tax and then claiming that the boat isn't his, he just drives it?

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Otherwise what is to stop Pedro buying a big boat in the UK, shipping it out to Spain without mat tax and then claiming that the boat isn't his, he just drives it?

I think thats the crux of it. There were many foreign flagged boats in the Balearics when we there, far more foreign flagged boats than foreigners it seemed to us. I think many Spanish residents have been registering their boats abroad in order to avoid matriculation tax. Certainly we were told that Spanish residents had been setting up UK companies in order to own their boat and register it under the British Registry. Making the driver of the boat liable for the tax instead of the owner, I guess, is the Spanish tax authorities' way of countering that.
That doesn't alter the fact that matriculation tax is a nonsense and is severely damaging the local tourist economy in many areas. Taxing a movable asset will guarantee that the asset moves out of the country

 

[lovezoo]

Spain is full of stupid taxes, senseless red-tape and unhelpful public officials - all seemingly with one aim in mind; to stifle economic activity. In that they have been very successful with the highest unemployment rate in the Eurozone.

Of course, if I wanted to live in a country with sensible rules and regulations and where everything runs like clockwork I would have moved to Germany.

 

[Renegade_Master]

edited

 

[mjf]

So what happens if for example a British guy living in Spain is master on a Spainish flag island hopping ferry?

 

[Renegade_Master]

he cant be the driver unless Mat tax is paid, unless he becomes spanish resident then they can ask him to do spanish qualifications..

The exception being they seem to accept Yachtmaster commercial, for instance my Jet boat is "owned and registered" to an english gent who lives in UK, it is mat tax paid, I am british but spanish res and they accept my YMC, as the license is in my name

 

[smee]

The trouble with Mallorca is that many rumours spread like wildfire and you have to know and respect the source. Did this come from a govt agency or newspaper or was it a tale over the bar?
A couple of weeks ago a rumour went round that Yachtmasters who are commercially endorsed have to be retested every five years. This was believed by quite a few and it certainly wound up a few too....the last thing most Captains want to have to do is have to schedule a retest into their already busy and hectic life! It did the rounds and then a couple of weeks later was revealed to have been started by the local joker! Now I can well imagine that local joker would get quite a laugh out of suggesting this tale of Mat Tax to captains that are awaiting delivery of the bosses new multimillion euro boat!

Of course I may be wrong! Indeed it may be that as I type they are patrolling Illetas, Palmanova, and Portals Vells etc rounding up boats and captains left right and centre, after all the vast majority of boats here are foreign registered with foreign, but resident, captains! However with a little common sense (which ok, maybe govt officials do not possess), how can anyone think getting captains to pay the mat tax is even feasible (few have that much disposible income else they would not be working for a living!) let alone sensible or just.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

how can anyone think getting captains to pay the mat tax is even feasible (few have that much disposible income else they would not be working for a living!) let alone sensible or just.

Yes but thats the same principle as the authorities applied to foreign registered charter boats. The mat tax was levied on the charter company not the owner disregarding the fact that no charter company is likely to have the wherewithal to pay the mat tax on the 20 or 30 boats it was managing. The expectation was, of course, that the owner would stump up. Anyway I've never ever met a sensible tax inspector anywhere in the world. They all go by the book and if the book says that the captain or the charter co is liable, then thats the way they'll apply it.

 

[lovezoo]

Absolutely, they will just embargo the boat, irrespective of whether it is "legal" to do so or not.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Absolutely, they will just embargo the boat, irrespective of whether it is "legal" to do so or not.

Exactly and thats what happened to me. My boat was 'precinto'd' early on in the mat tax fiasco by the tax authorities and it wasn't until later that I found that the actual liability for the tax fell on the charter co. I was faced with many years of fighting a legal battle or paying up and getting my boat back because, sure as hell, the charter co was neither willing nor able to pay it

 

[alexchumillas]

Matriculation Tax and resident skippers

The main problem is not the residency of the yacht skipper. The mere fact of developing a charter activity from a Spanish port base is interpreted as having a permanent establishment in Spain. Therefore company established in Spain using a boat in Spain = Matricualtion Tax.

Independently of other possible considerations. If a professional skipper is drving a boat and there is evidence of a professional relationship between the yacht owner and the skipper, matriculation tax can't be enforced, as long the boat is not doing charter.

Case: Private yacht registered abroad (not Spain) sailing in Spain with a Spanish resident skipper, does not involve Matriculation tax. As long the service is being rendered for the yacht owner and this is not a hidden charter... Proof of the skipper work contract is basic.

If i am not wrong there are some tax rulings in this sense.

Best,

Alex Chumillas

Hi Guys
I thought you would be interested in, what to me, is a new twist in the bizarre fiasco of the Spanish Mat tax.
I am a professional full time skipper of a 22m motor yacht based in Mallorca. Until last year my boss was a Spanish resident (although he is English) and consequently got stung for the tax, even though we do not charter.
We have a new boat due to arrive soon (28m, lucky me) and my boss is now resident in the UK.
Now here is the twist. As I am a Spanish resident, if I drive the boat (my job), I become personally liable to pay the 12% tax on the new multi million euro vessel!!!!!!!
Are these people completely insane?!
There are many, many guys here in the same situation. If you are resident and you drive a vessel owned by a non resident entity (individual or company) YOU have to pay the tax! Effectively, I can loose my house because of my, legitimate job!!
No wonder there are so many empty berths here.
I may well be forced to quit my job. There is no logic to this at all.
In order to keep my job on the island...........I have to leave the island!!
If I had any hair, I would have torn it out by now.