Beware of Spanish waters

[howardd]

My yacht is in Spanish waters.

Contrary to EU law, the Spanish authorities have decided to levy a 12% tax on the value of all non Spanish yachts that are licenced for charter. With little or no notice they have seized several yachts and there is complete uproar.

They are now considering levying the same on all non Spanish yachts.

Whilst is is illegal under EU law, this latest transgression joins a long list of other complaints at the EU commision and may not be dealt with anytime soon.

This tax was previously applied to non EU yachts staying permanently in Spain.

The nett result of this is that some yacht owners are taking their yachts out
of Spanish waters to avoid seizure.

 

[lenseman]

Have you told the RYA, if so, what was their response?

 

[Tranona]

My yacht is in Spanish waters.

Contrary to EU law, the Spanish authorities have decided to levy a 12% tax on the value of all non Spanish yachts that are licenced for charter. With little or no notice they have seized several yachts and there is complete uproar.

They are now considering levying the same on all non Spanish yachts.

Whilst is is illegal under EU law, this latest transgression joins a long list of other complaints at the EU commision and may not be dealt with anytime soon.

This tax was previously applied to non EU yachts staying permanently in Spain.

The nett result of this is that some yacht owners are taking their yachts out
of Spanish waters to avoid seizure.

Very simplistic!

Charter boats in Spain have always been subject to local taxes, and no, it is not contrary to EU law. What is happening is that the authorities are starting to enforce their own laws.

Similarly the tax they are imposing on some yachts is where the owners have taken up or have deemed to have taken up residence in Spain and there is a tax on some assets (such as boats) they bring with them. Non-residents who keep their boats in Spain are not subject to this tax.

This subject has been debated at great lengths on these fora over the last couple of years and the RYA and Crusing Association provide useful summaries of the law as it currently stands. One should of course recognise that Spain has a history of inconsistent application of its own laws because of regional autonomy.

As it currently stands if you are resident elsewhere in the EU and keep your private yacht in Spain, you are like many thousands of other people and currently you are not subject to any special taxes. Provided your paperwork is in order you can move freely in Spain. If, however, you intend using your yacht commercially or you intend taking up Spanish residence then you should seek legal advice about your tax position.

Please do not post inaccurate scaremongering stories here without checking your facts.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Howardd,

You are either badly misreading the situation, or one step ahead of the RYA and Cruising Association (CA).

What is your source for this information?

 

[Steve Clayton]

...The nett result of this is that some yacht owners are taking their yachts out
of Spanish waters to avoid seizure.

We chartered in Spain (Alicante/Valencia region) for 3 years. Completely legal; UK coded and Spanish inspected with the Spanish boat papers and skipper work permit (I was a ferry boat captain!) to go with it. Also paid G5 and a premium to the marina for charter activity.

With the stories of matriculation tax, the switch from Alicante port to Valencia port for the issue of charter licences, we spoke to our marine Gestora and indicated we were considering moving Seraph out ot Spain - this was February 2009. She said that she could arrange the renewal of our licence if we wanted but new licences would be very difficult. Without saying that we should, she gave us very strong indications that it was a really good idea to thing about moving as there were some significant and hard charges being considered. (One of these being that foreigh flagged charter boats could only operate for 90 days in a year!)

Looks like she may have been right and we did the right thing in moving Seraph out of Spain.

 

[Pete7]

Contrary to EU law, the Spanish authorities have decided to levy a 12% tax on the value of all non Spanish yachts that are licenced for charter. With little or no notice they have seized several yachts and there is complete uproar

And why not? Those who live and opperate a charter boat in Spain should be paying the same taxes as the local charter boats. More winging ex-pats (not saying you are).

Pete

 

[lovezoo]

Similarly the tax they are imposing on some yachts is where the owners have taken up or have deemed to have taken up residence in Spain and there is a tax on some assets (such as boats) they bring with them.

You are in fact entitled to bring your personal assets (including cars and boats) with you if you move to Spain from another EU country without paying any additional tax on them. However you have to register them within a set time limit of taking up your residency in Spain otherwise you lose this exemption.

 

[Danny Jo]

And why not? Those who live and opperate a charter boat in Spain should be paying the same taxes as the local charter boats. More winging ex-pats (not saying you are).

I Googled "Spanish yacht tax" and found this in a Telegraph article on the subject:

One couple had been living on board their boat at the marina for almost two years when the Civil Guard arrived to impound the 33 foot Birchwood Cruiser.
"They were amazingly heavy handed," explained Tony Maxted, 52, a retired engineer from Goole, North Yorkshire.
"We were just about to go out for a sail when a team of armed policemen turned up and told us we couldn't leave until we paid an import tax on the boat."
After paying for assessors to value the boat Mr Maxted and his wife Janet, 50, were forced to pay 2,100 euros (£2000) only to be told it was just the first step in registering their boat "Bigamist" as a Spanish vessel.
"Then we learnt we had to pay to have it formally registered, another 3,500 euros, and then take Spanish exams in order to be licensed to skipper it."
Without a decent command of the Spanish language passing the exam would be impossible, he added, and they would be forced to leave.

Having to learn Spanish in order to become a licensed Spanish skipper? What is the world coming to?

I am fascinated by this attitude. I had thought it was largely confined to the older generation; people whose formative years were influenced by cultural relics of Britain's colonial history.

 

[Tranona]

This is an old chestnut. The couple were resident in Spain and had failed to comply with the laws. There was a little flurry of this kind of incident when the Valencia region decided to enforce long standing laws, although as so often happens the story goes cold as political pressures move elsewhere.

The issue is related to residency and boats are not the only assets that are theoretically subject to tax if brought into the country.

It does not affect private boats kept in Spain by non-residents - of which there are many thousands.

One of the problems with these kind of laws is that they are often poorly worded, subject to conditions and reliefs, and worst of all inconsistently applied. Similar confusion occurred this year in Greece where two new boat taxes were introduced, passed into law, but not, as far as can be ascertained, implemented. Threat still had an impact. Gouvia marina used to be popular with big yachts, 20 or 30 moored there at a time (think Lord Mandy and his Russian mates) - This May when I was there last - none!

 

[jimbaerselman]

Having to learn Spanish in order to become a licensed Spanish skipper? What is the world coming to?

This guy had chosen to be a Spanish resident. Not unreasonable, surely, to expect him to speak a little Spanish, and follow the rules which apply to other residents of Spain?

 

[Danny Jo]

This guy had chosen to be a Spanish resident. Not unreasonable, surely, to expect him to speak a little Spanish, and follow the rules which apply to other residents of Spain?

Indeed. Sorry for the rather opaque irony. My original version of the second sentence quoted was "What a monstrous imposition", but I changed it partly on the grounds that it might cause offence, [edit] especially if the intended irony was missed [/edit].

Also, I live in a part of Wales where two thirds of the population are Welsh speaking, yet my Welsh is limited to "M'aen ddrwg geni, dw'i ddim 'n siarad cymraeg". SWMBO is still learning though.

 

[Nautorius]

My yacht is in Spanish waters.

Contrary to EU law, the Spanish authorities have decided to levy a 12% tax on the value of all non Spanish yachts that are licenced for charter. With little or no notice they have seized several yachts and there is complete uproar.

They are now considering levying the same on all non Spanish yachts.

Whilst is is illegal under EU law, this latest transgression joins a long list of other complaints at the EU commision and may not be dealt with anytime soon.

This tax was previously applied to non EU yachts staying permanently in Spain.

The nett result of this is that some yacht owners are taking their yachts out
of Spanish waters to avoid seizure.

Howardd,

Where are you based (which Marina?) As has already been said this is simply an old law now being implemented. It is called Matriculation Tax. My current boat was a Spanish Charter vessel and was fully registered with all tax paid. I saw the invoices and it costs Spanish Charter vessels a lot of Money. Therefore if you have a charter boat that is based in Spain you should pay these Taxes. You could always keep it in Gibraltar and charter it from there and not pay any Taxes.

This has been going on over 18 Months in Spain so I am surprised you were not aware of it.

It may seem unfair, but it was simply your lack of knowledge of local tax legislation. Given that Spain is on the verge of Fiscal Tax then this will not be the end of it!

Paul

 

[Sailfree]

I wonder how we would react to people keeping a spanish car permanently in the UK and not paying UK road tax.

wonder how we would react to people keeping spanish lorries permanently in the UK, running a hire/haulage business and not paying UK road tax.

I think the examples do bear comparison even if there are UK laws that make it illlegal.

 

[Wansworth]

there are something like300,000 uk people living in Spain ,many without any form of Residents qualification,although as a Resident it is not required to have a card just your passport or a slip of paper to the effect that you are resident.The impression I get is people throw all caution to the wind and think they are on a continuous holidayand Spain is actually quite lawless and anyway there "British".I came across a "Brit" who assumed it was alright to keep his boat in the marina and live nearby...thats until he is found out,but he is convinced that the Spanish are in the wrong and under EU regs he can stay with his yacht as long as he wishes.