duncan99210
Well-Known Member
Order counter order and confusion.....
OK. We stayed in Marina Port Vell over the winter and the Marina organised a presentation about the Matriculation Tax for us, as the local authorities had started to stop some foreign flagged boats and chasing them for the tax. The accountants who gave the presentation and answered questions were pretty clear on what the situation is:
Your boat can stay in Spanish waters as long as you want to leave it there without any liability to the tax.
The tax becomes payable if you spend more than 183 days per calander year in Spain. Note that the 'you' here is the person in charge of the boat at the time the authorities challenge you - not necessarily the owner of the boat. You will also, as part of the process, have to flag your boat as Spanish, with all that that entails.
The tax is 12% of the value ascribed to it by the local customs offices. The advice of the accountants is that for boats over 'few years' old, this would be a fraction of the market value.
That's the simple case dealt with! Now for the slightly more complicated bit. If you are setting up residence in Spain, you can 'import' your boat as part of your household and you are, according to the accountants, exempt from the tax but you will have to register the boat under Spanish flag. You have a short window to do this as part of taking up residence in Spain, about 30 days from starting the residency process. All of this is a hangover from pre EU days in Spain, where boats had a 28% tax on them: VAT was introduced and the lost income to the state was replaced by the Matriculation tax of 12%. Pre EU, if you were setting up home in Spain you could import all your household goods without paying Spanish tax as a one off concession on arrival - that's where the exemption comes from.
This is all, I'm afraid, prefectly legal under EU law, as there is no barrier to the movement of goods, rather a charge for owning a boat in Spain, which they're perfectly entitled to do if they want to (see Greek tax threads!). The fact that the UK does not wish to go down this route (at the moment) doesn't mean that other governments can't do it.
All that said, the implementation of the law seems to be very much on a case by case basis and relates more to how the local office is dealing with cases at the moment. Bottom line is if you don't want to be liable for the tax, don't spend more than 183 days per year in Spain! (Keep your boarding cards from flights home if you're worried about proving you've been out of the country; they provide enough evidence of travel especially as all Spanish ones have your passport no on them.)
Hope that helps.
OK. We stayed in Marina Port Vell over the winter and the Marina organised a presentation about the Matriculation Tax for us, as the local authorities had started to stop some foreign flagged boats and chasing them for the tax. The accountants who gave the presentation and answered questions were pretty clear on what the situation is:
Your boat can stay in Spanish waters as long as you want to leave it there without any liability to the tax.
The tax becomes payable if you spend more than 183 days per calander year in Spain. Note that the 'you' here is the person in charge of the boat at the time the authorities challenge you - not necessarily the owner of the boat. You will also, as part of the process, have to flag your boat as Spanish, with all that that entails.
The tax is 12% of the value ascribed to it by the local customs offices. The advice of the accountants is that for boats over 'few years' old, this would be a fraction of the market value.
That's the simple case dealt with! Now for the slightly more complicated bit. If you are setting up residence in Spain, you can 'import' your boat as part of your household and you are, according to the accountants, exempt from the tax but you will have to register the boat under Spanish flag. You have a short window to do this as part of taking up residence in Spain, about 30 days from starting the residency process. All of this is a hangover from pre EU days in Spain, where boats had a 28% tax on them: VAT was introduced and the lost income to the state was replaced by the Matriculation tax of 12%. Pre EU, if you were setting up home in Spain you could import all your household goods without paying Spanish tax as a one off concession on arrival - that's where the exemption comes from.
This is all, I'm afraid, prefectly legal under EU law, as there is no barrier to the movement of goods, rather a charge for owning a boat in Spain, which they're perfectly entitled to do if they want to (see Greek tax threads!). The fact that the UK does not wish to go down this route (at the moment) doesn't mean that other governments can't do it.
All that said, the implementation of the law seems to be very much on a case by case basis and relates more to how the local office is dealing with cases at the moment. Bottom line is if you don't want to be liable for the tax, don't spend more than 183 days per year in Spain! (Keep your boarding cards from flights home if you're worried about proving you've been out of the country; they provide enough evidence of travel especially as all Spanish ones have your passport no on them.)
Hope that helps.
