spanish flagged boat

[jimd10]

Hi
Would anyone know, if you bought a Spanish flagged boat with the intention of keeping her in Spain year round but you did not have Spanish residency,are you obliged to have the Spanish qualifications etc ,or would your own countries certs suffice ? in my case Irish.

 

[GrowingLad]

Could you not get an ICC?

I'm no expert but I believe that would cover you in European waters.

 

[goboatingnow]

you have this question before, You have to be careful if she remains a spainish flaged boat then you will have to pay spainish taxes and you will have to have a spainish qualification, the exams for which are in spainish

 

[sailorman]

your a UK resident, get a SSR registration for the boat, then no probs

 

[Steve Clayton]

[ QUOTE ]
you have this question before, You have to be careful if she remains a spainish flaged boat then you will have to pay spainish taxes and you will have to have a spainish qualification, the exams for which are in spainish

[/ QUOTE ]
This is the correct answer to OP question.

 

[JamesFrance]

Unless you are a Spanish resident, your boat should not be Spanish registered.

I would have thought that re-registering with ssr or whatever is right for you, removing the Spanish numbers and replacing with ssr number or whatever should satisfy any casual Guardia enquiry as long as the boat moves from the marina where it is known.

No doubt there is an official procedure for removing the Spanish registration, but probably the seller would deal with that as he is selling to a foreign resident not entitled to Spanish registration.

 

[Hurricane]

Be careful de registering.
AFAIK being Spanish registered implies that a 12% matriculation tax has been paid on the boat.

If you were to become a resident in Spain for tax purposes (that means you being in spain for more than six months in a year) and the boat were to stay in Spain then the boat would HAVE to be Spanish registered and would HAVE to have had the 12% matriculation tax paid on her. I believe that this tax applies to all Spanish residents - I've always seen it as a sort of import tax. If, on the other hand you, yourself arent planning on staying in Spain for more than 6 months in any year then it doesnt matter.

So, if the boat was deregistered from Spain, be sure that if she has to be reregistered in Spain that you dont have to pay the 12% tax again.

I'm no expert but this is what I found when I've looked into the matter.
As far as qualifications are concerned, I think you're correct - and that you will have to have a Spanish qualification to skipper a Spanish boat.

BTW - I believe that an RYA ICC is no good here - it is only valid for British Registered vessels.

So no simple answer here.

If you already have an RYA qualification (say a YM) then there may be some merrit in asking the Spanish authorities if you can transfer it to a Spanish equivalent.

The way I see it is that British residents should not stay in Spain for longer than six months in any twelve - then they can keep a non-Spanish registerred boat in Spain.

I'm babbling on a bit here but in principle, you should think carefully before you decide to change the registration.

 

[BoatGuru]

It is my expeirence following boating in Spain for over 18 years. That all you have to do is get the boat de-registered in Spain and the SSR in the UK.

ICC will help with your insurance and is not a legal requirement yet for Spainish waters only French, but i would suggest that you get it done if you haven't already.

12% Matriculation tax only relates to boats being used for charter!! private boats don't have to pay 12%.

The only thing to be aware of is check the VAT/TVA status of the boat and where the VAT/TVA was paid, this will only become an issue if/when you want to take the boat out of Spain permanently.

Where abouts in Spain is it and i can see if i have any contacts that can help.

 

[DavidJ]

[ QUOTE ]

The only thing to be aware of is check the VAT/TVA status of the boat and where the VAT/TVA was paid, this will only become an issue if/when you want to take the boat out of Spain permanently.


[/ QUOTE ]
Not quite sure what you mean here. If the tax (IVA?) has been paid anywhere in the EU then there will be no problems taking the boat anywhere within the EU. If for some reason the tax hasn't been paid then you have a problem whether in Spain or not.

 

[cloud7]

Not sure thats 100% correct , I know of ex pats living in spain
who have been caught for the matriculation tax , ie living more than 182 days or having a property in spain , there is
a view that if you have a NIE number , you may be subject
to the tax . The problem here is From my own experiences
I have found dealing with the spanish tax authorities VERY
difficult , you can get different answers to the same question.
And if you approach them you can open a can' worms ' .that maybe be hard to put the lid on. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Steve Clayton]

[ QUOTE ]
12% Matriculation tax only relates to boats being used for charter!!

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure you are correct; I understand that if you have to/want to; reflag your boat; charter or private, to Spanish registration then the 12% is due

Reflagging a boat >15metres and you will pay an additional tax levy.

[ QUOTE ]
private boats don't have to pay 12%.

[/ QUOTE ]
see answer above

As an aside; Seraph is and remains UK registered, has been in Spanish waters for 4 years now; Spanish legal for charter and I have the skipper charter papers for Spanish waters. (although the Spanish authorities have moved the charter registration from Alicante Port to Valencia.We are waiting to be told what changes, if any, this will have to non-Spanish charter boats.)

 

[JamesFrance]

[ QUOTE ]

ICC will help with your insurance and is not a legal requirement yet for Spainish waters only French, but i would suggest that you get it done if you haven't already.



[/ QUOTE ]

In France no permis is required for a sailing yacht used at sea, so presumably this would apply for foreign flagged boats also.

[ QUOTE ]
En eaux maritimes, la conduite des bateaux de plaisance à voile, même équipés d'un moteur auxiliaire, n'est pas subordonnée à la possession d'un permis ;


[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000648362&dateTexte=

 

[jimd10]

Thanks for the offer and to all who have replied. I dont have my eye on a specific boat ,I am looking at all the options and trying to find out exactly whats involved.We have an apartment near Cambrils/Salou and iam looking at the new marina at Sant Carles which is only 50 miles from there.
So my decision really is do i sell here at home and buy in Spain or move the boat over...seems I have a lot more research to do yet!

Where abouts in Spain is it and i can see if i have any contacts that can help.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[DavidJ]

[ QUOTE ]

So my decision really is do i sell here at home and buy in Spain or move the boat over...


[/ QUOTE ]
There is another dimension to your decision making. San Carles is a new marina and I'm led to believe (from this forum) that there are berths available. However if you wanted any other marina in the Med you have a problem....it's full!
One way to create berth availability is to buy in Spain and make it part of the deal that the existing berth can be rented (or sold) to you.
If San Carles is for you then move quickly, recession or not berths are not a buyers market yet.

 

[goboatingnow]

The OP is Irish, hence he cannot make use of the SSR, To de register he would have to get Full Ships registration, However any asset in spain is subject to wealth tax and matriculation tax irrespective of the registration once its there for more then 6 months , ie its treated just like a house. I dont beleive reregistering will remove that requirement. However teh tax seems to be applied soradically against foreign boats or not at all. see http://www.spainvia.com/boats.htm for more info

 

[DavidJ]

Thanks Goboatingnow for the link, that's the clearest explanation I've seen

 

[JamesFrance]

Another way of course would be to buy a boat with non Spanish registration already down there.

 

[DavidJ]

[ QUOTE ]
Another way of course would be to buy a boat with non Spanish registration already down there.

[/ QUOTE ]
Now, that's a good suggestion!