Boat into Spain / canary Islands

[palmeras]

An very good evening to all members as this is my first post, along with one of your current members Rofer we plan to move both boats to lanzarote over the next few months, however we have hit a problem with a matrication tax of 12% on the boats, both by the way are british flag & uk vat paid,
can any of members give any advice on this matter, cheers guys /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Hurricane]

I'm no expert but the way I see it is that if you are living in Spain for more than six months and hence are subject to Spanish taxes, you will have to pay the matriculation taxes. I'm not sure that it stops at boats as well so check.

It might be possible to have someone else own them (an offshore company for example) but you will need some expert advice.

If you live elsewhere and dont spend more than 6 months in Spain you dont need to pay the matriculation tax - as far as I know.

Here are some interesting web sites on the subject.

http://www.telefonica.net/web2/grehan/isdmt/
http://www.spainvia.com/boats.htm
http://www.hotribs.com/02articles/052-boats-in-spain/boat-tax-in-spain.asp

Maybe these will help.

Good luck

 

[palmeras]

thanks for the information, it has been very helpfull, as we would only be on the boat max 4weeks each time , the 6 month rule would never be breached . /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[DavidJ]

I think Hurricane has got it right. I've never heard of any Brit with a boat in Spain (and there are loads of us) paying matriculation tax.

 

[capnsensible]

Hiya, we live on a yacht in Lanzarote and look after 2 other boats, all UK registered. We have never been asked about tax and have never saught a local opinion. Lots of other Brit boats here, no problems. Be aware The Canaries are a dependant territory rather than subject to mainland tax laws and have proved to be very accommodating to a good income source. It helps to nip over to Tarfaya in Morocco once a year to get a passport stamped whilst still retaining your marina berth. Its only 75 miles.
Hope this helps... feel free to PM if you have any questions about Lanzarote.