Tax issue? - Lots of Polish registered boats

[Hurricane]

This year, several people have noticed an increase in the number of Polish registered boats.
Particularly evident in the Balearics.

And also here in Sant Carles - more Polish registered boats.

The rumors are that the boats used to be French registered which are attracting extra taxes.
Indeed, it seems that some of the Polish boats in our marina were French registered last year.
It may be a Spanish thing but does anyone know if there are any taxes that would apply to French boats that wouldn't be applied if they were registered in Poland?

I don't think it can be a VAT issue but it would be interesting to hear why this is happening.

 

[Portofino]

The only thing I can think of is the French eq of inland revenue have access to the Fr reg data base and are cross checking registrants have paid there taxes .This could be the basic HP mobo tax that Fr citizens with a Fr reg boat have to pay ,and possibly a additional wealth tax on top if the things value is deemed above a certain threshold.

Assuming they are not looking for what ever reason at the Polish register.

Or the polish is lax on the kit check and dates , or it’s just worthwhile cheaper to enter , unlikely.

Another explanation is Polish banks offer far cheaper finance rates , or better VAT saving leasing schemes .A stipulation applied to clients is they reg it under the Polish flag .

 

[ss2016]

French residents are subject to a wealth tax if WWide assets exceed Euro1.3M. It then starts I think at .5% and increases to 1.5% as your wealth goes up. Since they have had a wealth tax for many years they are culturally inclined not to be too keen to show assets. I remember as a child my father explaining that it was the reason there were few very expensive cars on French roads.

 

[westernman]

French residents are subject to a wealth tax if WWide assets exceed Euro1.3M. It then starts I think at .5% and increases to 1.5% as your wealth goes up. Since they have had a wealth tax for many years they are culturally inclined not to be too keen to show assets. I remember as a child my father explaining that it was the reason there were few very expensive cars on French roads.

Not any longer.
ISF has been changed into IFI

 

[greg131187]

One of our neighbours in Palma is on a Polish registration scheme to get a fishing licence in the Balearics. They won't issue one to UK flagged vessels #Brexit

 

[jrudge]

Lots of polish vessels in Cala dor. Have been for 3-4 years. No idea as to why

 

[Bouba]

Lots of boats are manufactured in Poland...it’s not to much of a stretch to think that they now offer other services such as finance and registration

 

[PEJ]

My understanding is that it is very cheap and involves a lot less paperwork to register a boat in Poland. This gives it full EU status so EU citizens do it for that reason.

 

[lusitano]

My understanding is that it is very cheap and involves a lot less paperwork to register a boat in Poland. This gives it full EU status so EU citizens do it for that reason.

Not particularly cheap at around 400€ but that is apparently for as long as you own the boat. Same cost to transfer ownership. Paperwork much the same as anywhere else.

 

[Alicatt]

Registration docs have just come through today for our boat, as my wife and I are joint owners and both resident in Belgium we have registered it here, cost: €59

 

[Tranona]

My understanding is that it is very cheap and involves a lot less paperwork to register a boat in Poland. This gives it full EU status so EU citizens do it for that reason.

There is no such thing as eU registered status. Registration of boats is nothing to do with the EU but is covered by international maritime law and the responsibility of individual states to signify the nationality of the ship. Only required when leaving home waters of the flag state.

Prime reasons for people using other states for the nationality of their boat are tax , safety and crewing regulations, cost and convenience compared with registering in the state of their personal citizenship or residence.

 

[Hurricane]

Prime reasons for people using other states for the nationality of their boat are tax , safety and crewing regulations, cost and convenience compared with registering in the state of their personal citizenship or residence.

But can you think of a reason that lots of people (in Spain) this year seem to have changed their registration to Poland?

 

[Baggywrinkle]

There is also a Faceplant campaign running ...



This is the Website ....

 

[Alicatt]

There is no such thing as eU registered status. Registration of boats is nothing to do with the EU but is covered by international maritime law and the responsibility of individual states to signify the nationality of the ship. Only required when leaving home waters of the flag state.

Prime reasons for people using other states for the nationality of their boat are tax , safety and crewing regulations, cost and convenience compared with registering in the state of their personal citizenship or residence.

There is a "Union inland navigation certificate" for boats, both pleasure and commercial, that sail across the internal borders on the inland waterways of Europe but that is for boats over 20m in length.

UNION INLAND NAVIGATION CERTIFICATE​

The Union inland navigation certificate indicates that a ship complies with the European directive on technical requirements for inland waterway vessels. This Directive shall apply to vessels ≥ 20 m or whose product length (L) x width (W) x max. draught (T) is greater than 100m³. The Union inland navigation certificate shall be issued after a technical inspection of the vessel. The zone in which the ship can sail shall be indicated on the certificate. If the vessel is allowed to sail on the Rhine, an additional zone R shall be indicated on the certificate.

More information: Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport

UNIQUE EUROPEAN SHIP IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (ENI)​

Vessels holding a Union inland navigation certificate should also be in possession of a Unique European Ship Identification Number.

The unique European ship identification number is assigned to vessels to which the Royal Decree of 19 March 2009 laying down the technical requirements for inland waterway vessels applies. It does not change during the lifetime of a ship. Vessels that already have an official number (also a non-Belgian one) will retain that number. The numbers assigned by Belgium have the following format: 061XXXXX.

Conditions:

• booked in Belgium or, if not recorded in another European member state, with home port in Belgium. If registered in another European member state, the number must be requested in that country;
• prove ownership of the vessel.

More information: Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport

 

[westernman]

In France it is for tax avoidance.
For a French registered boat there is a yearly tax to pay, and certain equipment is required to be kept up to date such as liferafts etc.

If you are a French resident and have a boat which is not French registered, in theory you should pay the same tax. However, if your Polish registered boat is kept outside France they will never know. Or if it is kept in France and the registration certificate has a foreign address for the owner (but more risky if they otherwise work out that you are resident).

I suspect for other countries it might be a similar racket.

 

[Bouba]

In France it is for tax avoidance.
For a French registered boat there is a yearly tax to pay, and certain equipment is required to be kept up to date such as liferafts etc.

If you are a French resident and have a boat which is not French registered, in theory you should pay the same tax. However, if your Polish registered boat is kept outside France they will never know. Or if it is kept in France and the registration certificate has a foreign address for the owner (but more risky if they otherwise work out that you are resident).

I suspect for other countries it might be a similar racket.

I think that trying to side step the French tax man is a risky business.....even the oligarch yachts were tracked down

 

[capnsensible]

From what I've seen tootling round various places by boat is that wherever you go you will see some kinda tax dodge in action. Lots of USA flagged boats in Turkey (a couple of states do this, Delamere mentioned above is one) Marshall Island, Cayman Islands yadda yadda. Follow the money....

 

[Tranona]

There is a "Union inland navigation certificate" for boats, both pleasure and commercial, that sail across the internal borders on the inland waterways of Europe but that is for boats over 20m in length.

But that is nothing to do with flag state registration required by international law which is what this thread is about. There are all sorts of "registers" in operation but there is not one that gives EU "status" in an international sense as the EU is not a flag state, or indeed a state at all.

 

[Sailfree]

Is it easy to insure in UK a Polish register boat?

 

[RupertW]

We are thinking of getting Polish registration instead of SSR when we return back to the Med with our boat.

Pre-Brexit it was never an issue but I’ve heard too many stories about Greece and also Spain treating UK flagged boats differently to EU flagged boats whether EU VAT paid or not.