Portuguese Customs

[25931]

As the Spanish situation is receiving a lot of replies I'm starting a new thread to answer the question re Portugal.
The situation here is quite relaxed. As long as you stay on the SSR (or Blue Book) you are unlikely to be troubled. You are supposed to pay a circulation tax (which requires amongst other items the beam & engine details to appear on the registration docs.) if you are in Portuguese waters for more than six months. Everyone I know disappears for a couple of days occaisionally although I've heard at second hand of people having problems due to not leaving a marina for years.
Jim

 

[KellysEye]

Here are the full details.

LAGOS NAVIGATORS INFORMATION SHEET

Portuguese Boat Tax Foreign-Registered Yachts


The Portuguese Boat Tax -effectively a Road Tax on all vehicles but which applies to recreational yachts and motorboats, as well as to private aircraft! This tax is administered by local tax offices and this has led to differences in interpretation between locations.

A new law came into effect from 1 Jan 2008, and while the basic principles remained the same, changes were made to the liability, calculation and payment procedures. In 2010, we obtained written clarification of the definition of Liability. These notes include the latest information, as well as some points on the application and implications of this tax.

Tax Rate
Boat Tax became based on engine power only. It uses Kilowatts as the measure, and the rate for 2009 was EUROS 2.10 per Kw. As 1 HP = 0.7457 Kw the tax is about EUROS (Horsepower X 1.5)

Tax Exemption
Boats with an engine of less than 20 Kw. (= 26.82 HP) or registered before 1986, are exempt from the tax.There is no requirement to register or to claim this exemption.

Tax Liability for Foreign-Registered
The law only states that a foreign-registered boat becomes liable for the tax after a period greater than 183 days in any part of Portugal. After correspondence with the Central Financas Office, DGCI, in Lisbon, we have obtained this clarification -
which should now be applied by all local offices. The tax is applied to all foreign-registered yachts kept anywhere in Portugal either ashore or afloat, for a continuous period of more than 183 days in any tax year. There is then a 30-day period, within which the tax must be paid.

Implications
This clarification means that if avisiting foreign-registered boat is in Portugal on 1Jan, it would become liable for the tax on 4th July, and the tax must then be paid by 3 August
Conversely, if you first arrive in Portugal after 2 July, you cannot achieve the 183 days needed to create liability in that tax year. In Portugal, the calendar year is the Tax Year, and each tax year is treated as a separate unit.

Note that the local nature of the tax means that there is at the moment no exchange of information between different tax offices and no way to check on time spent in other marinas or in anchorages. But beware - the Portuguese tax systems are becoming more sophisticated

Tax Avoidance is not Tax Evasion
A (probably unintentional!) consequence of this clarification is that for a boat kept in Portugal over a whole tax year, a documented absence from Portugal - from say 1st to 5July each year - will avoid liability for this tax. An alternative would be to take two short breaks out of Portugal in the spring and autumn so long as they were less than 183 days apart.

Such Tax Avoidance tactics will probably only make sense if your engine size makes the Boat Tax punitive. You would also need to be reasonably close to a border and have a marina near-by, to provide documentary proof of your absence from Portugal.. Hiding in an anchorage won't do.

Future Legislation
In theory, such Tax Avoidance visits could be repeated ad infinitum. This seems too good to be true and indeed it is. Under UK and Portuguese law, any boat kept here permanently should be registered here, and would then fall under normal Portuguese rules. Being realistic, the least we can expect is that if this loophole is exploited to any significant extent, the existing law on registration will be enforced more stringently.

Payment Procedures.
To calculate any tax liability, the Treasury section of Financas must see the yacht17;s Registration Document and proof of engine power, e.g. a Bill of Sale or Maker's Booklet. If and when you need to pay the tax it must be paid in cash or by a cheque
drawn on a Portuguese bank. If the owner is out of the country on the due date, someone else may make the payment on his behalf.

Normally, to pay any tax in Portugal the individual needs a mero de Contribuinte which is just a Fiscal Identification Number. It has nothing to do with Income Tax!. If you already have one, you can continue to pay the tax as in the past.

Fiscal Representatives
If you do NOT yet have a Fiscal Number, you will NOT now be able to get one unless you have a fixed address in Portugal and Yacht Rosy; Berth J 05; Marina de Lagos is not an acceptable address. In this case you must appoint a Fiscal Representative - usually an accountant or lawyer & who acts officially on your behalf and effectively underwrites your legal commitments.

You could get a friend, who already has a Numero Contribuente, to pay this tax for you. He then becomes, in effect, your Fiscal Representative and this role has significant legal responsibilities. Eg. If you left Portugal after the 30 days graceperiod, this epresentative could be liable for your boat tax. Neither we, nor the Marina Management, will undertake this duty on behalf of any other yachtsman, as it has open-ended commitments that extend into the future.

This is our understanding of the position as at 12 February 2010, based on letters to and from the Central Finanças Office (DGCI) in Lisbon and discussions between the Manager of Marina de Lagos and the Lagos Chief Financial Officer.


If you have a query about this note, contact us via our web site, www.lagosnavigators.net. Queries on your normal own tax situation should be addressed to the local Financas Office.

 

[Edwin]

is the the tax on the boat or the owners residence?

If you are not resident of Portugal but keep the boat there more than 183 days are you liable?

 

[DownWest]

I read from this that an enginless boat of any size is exempt? (Friend in this situation, with boat ashore)
A

Michael, I think that is a yes.

I also thought that the days were cumulative, i.e. 183 days during the year. So dodging off to Spain for a couple of days wouldn't work.

Spoke to guy who had a visit from the Fiscal over his car (UK reg). He explained he was in and out of the country and wasn't liable for importation (slow and expensive). They replied that he better be able to back up his claim as they would be able to check it. How was not specified.

 

[25931]

The law relating to boats is not the same as for cars.
One is supposed to inform the Alfandega if a car is going to stay for a whlie rather than being in transit.They can state that a car has been here for more than six months & the owner has to prove otherwise.
Jim

 

[rallyveteran]

I also thought that the days were cumulative, i.e. 183 days during the year. So dodging off to Spain for a couple of days wouldn't work.

Lagos Navigators used to think the same until they had written confirmation from Central Finanças Office (DGCI) in Lisbon that, for yachts, the 183 days have to be continuous, and within one calendar year, to trigger the tax.

Are you saying you STILL think that leaving the country doesn't reset the counter, or that you used to think that, but no longer do?

 

[jimbaerselman]

Any person accumulating more than 183 days in 365 (or a tax year, or a calendar year, depending on the country) in an EU country becomes a tax resident of that country. People can also become tax residents if they own or do business in a country. Tax residence (not the same thing as having a tax number) has a range of consequences - especially concerning ownership, registration and licensing to operate any means of transport. Details vary from country to country.

Any means of transport staying longer than a defined period in any EU country may be required to meet a range of locally defined conditions (registration, equipment fit, taxation). Periods and conditions vary from country to country.

Both conditions (one for people, one for stuff) are not policed for EU residents, but a country is entitled to assume that 'long stayers' have exceeded their welcome - unless the owner/person proves otherwise.

 

[DownWest]

Lagos Navigators used to think the same until they had written confirmation from Central Finanças Office (DGCI) in Lisbon that, for yachts, the 183 days have to be continuous, and within one calendar year, to trigger the tax.

Are you saying you STILL think that leaving the country doesn't reset the counter, or that you used to think that, but no longer do?

When I lived there (75-04, nipping off to Spain was normal. But I thought that the rules had changed (hence the comment about the car) Thanks for the Lagos Navigators clarification on the continuous rule for yachts. As usual, it was always difficult to get a straight answer and local interpretation was common, esp. if a good fine was in line.
After entry into the EU, lots of people thought that the import taxes on cars, boats etc would be dropped. There was a big queue of high end cars waiting at the border at the day of entry, lots of disappointed drivers when told the old rules still applied.
I am a little out of date, clearly.
A