Temporary Admission in Spain

The temporary admission procedure laid down in article 250 of the Union Customs Code – Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, which came into force on 1 May 2016, allows non-Union goods intended for re-export to be subject to specific use in the customs territory of the Union, with total or partial relief from import duty. This procedure enables non-EU registered yachts to stay within the EU with total relief from import VAT and move freely within its territorial waters with no further customs formalities for a period of 18 months.

The relevant change compared with the existing previous situation laid down in the Community Customs Code 2913/92 and Commission Regulation 2454/93 is that it is now required for yachts arriving at an EU Port coming from an Non-EU Port to submit an oral customs declaration in accordance with article 165 of Commission Delegated Regulation 2015/2446.

There are different approaches to the situation in different Mediterranean countries, as this formality is not strictly enforced everywhere and other countries, in addition to the submission of the oral declaration, require the provision of a guarantee. Here we will provide an overview on how the process works strictly in Spain.

When an application for TA is made orally, the declarant shall submit a document as referred to in Annex 71-01 containing the following information:

• name and address of the declarant;
• description of the goods, their value and quantity;
• place of use and kind of use of the goods and means of identifying them;
• period for discharge;
• customs office(s) of discharge.

Together with Annex 71-01, the following supporting documents shall be submitted:

• Yacht’s certificate of registry;
• Passport of the yacht owner;
• Yachts owned under corporations: deed of incorporation, certificate of incumbency and passport of the company director.

When the temporary import takes place in Spain, the customs authorities will not require the provision of any security or guarantee. If the customs authorities are not satisfied that the particulars declared orally are accurate or complete, the oral declaration might be refused.
Please find below some particularities of the most relevant yacht destinations in Spain.

Palma de Mallorca – first port of arrival must be the customs port of Palma. Once the paperwork has been reviewed, the yacht can head to any other port in Mallorca. In Mallorca it is required to provide either original supporting documents or verified by a Spanish public body.

Ibiza – there is no need of arrival to a customs port. The yacht can arrive to any port and submit the declaration online to the local customs office, using the system in place in the website of the Spanish tax agency.

Barcelona – there is no need of arrival to a customs port. The yacht can arrive to any port. Photocopies of the relevant documents are usually accepted.

Although customs does not expect the submission of an export declaration to close the temporary import, evidence of having visited a non EU port will be requested in order to renew the 18-month period.

For any further information, please email us to info@yachtwelfare.it or directly contact our Spanish referent Mr. Alex Chumillas, Director or Tax Marine emailing alex@taxmarine.com.

70% of what?

Sanremo, 6th February 2017

The Convention on the High Seas (replaced by United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) defined “high seas” to mean “all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State” and where “no State may validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty“.

Consequently “high seas seagoing ship” means a ship other than those which navigate exclusively into the 12 nautical miles territorial waters, inland waters or in waters within, or closely adjacent to, sheltered waters or areas where port regulations apply.

Resolution No.2/E, released by Agenzia delle Entrate (Italian Tax Office) on 12th January 2017, gives a clear interpretation of “high seas” not only in relation to the technical nature of the ship but also to its fiscal aspects. In accordance to the provisions of said Resolution, a ship can be qualified as a “high seas seagoing ship” if she has performed more than 70% of the voyages sailing the “high seas” in the past calendar year.

If the ship effectively met this specific condition (voyages > 70%), she is qualified to benefit of the VAT exemption according to Article 8-bis, which meets the provisions of Article 148 points a), c) e d) of the EU Directive 112/2006/CE, stating that the VAT exemption regime can be applied to those commercial operations done by vessels “used for navigation on the high seas and carrying passenger for reward or used for commercial purposes (including the Charter activity), industrial or fishing activities”.

Official proofs and documents needs to be provided to attest that the ship really performed more than 70% of the voyages sailing the “high seas”.

Therefore Italy really seems about to follow in the footsteps of France with its law from 12th May 2015, better known to all as BOFiP (the French regulations governing VAT exemption).

For what is closely related to the Yachting and Charter industry, the hereinbefore mentioned commercial operations can be quickly summarized in the following points:

a. purchase of goods and provisions
b. purchase of fuel and lube oil (bunkering)
c. purchase of spare parts, machineries and equipment in general
d. repair and maintenance works on board

Despite the Italian Tax Authorities have provided clear information they didn’t provide complete ones. In fact there’s still plenty of grey areas and perplexities such as the way to calculate the 70% (time or number of voyages?), which documents and proofs can be considered as “official”, etc.
The most involved Italian fiscal representatives are now working hard to collect all the necessary info which will be shared with you as soon as possible.

For any additional info please call or email us to info@yachtwelfare.it. We remain at your disposal.

 

DOWNLOAD

Resolution-2E (Original)
YW News 2017-01 (pdf)

VAT for Fuel Consumed on Charter

Further to our news on 28th June and 1st July, with specific regards to the legal advice provided to MYBA by the Italian Tax Office, Yacht Welfare has summarized into a chart all the possible scenarios (concerning Italian charters) explaining how to charge to the charterer the fuel and lube oils consumed during the charter. We thank you our proud partner WeBunker (www.webunker.com) for the valuable collaboration provided. Please download here the YW VAT_Bunker
For more info please email to info@yachtwelfare.it or heinz@webunker.com

 

DOWNLOAD

MYBA Legal Advice (Original)
MYBA Legal Advice (ENG Translation)
YW VAT_Bunker

How to Invoice APA Subject to VAT

Sanremo, 1st July 2016

Given the new ruling by MYBA in regards to the APA (for more info see also here www.yachtwelfare.it/clarifications-on-apa-june-2016) the VAT collected on the expenses to meet navigation requirements, such as fuel and oil for the engines and on-board systems, needs to be remitted to the Italian Revenue Office along with the VAT collected on the Charter Fee.
To that end the amount of VAT raised by such expenses is to be immediately wired to Yacht Welfare at the end of the charter.

Yacht Welfare, on behalf of the yacht’s owner, will issue a separate invoice for APA which is required to regulate the hereinbefore mentioned operations.
For this reason there is undoubtedly a need to receive the APA report, duly fulfilled by the yacht’s Captain and countersigned by the Charterer, within the shortest time right after the disembarkation of the charter.

For the sake of clarity Yacht Welfare hereby informs all its Clients that penalties and delay fees will always apply for any late remittance of VAT raised by the expenses paid with APA.

For any additional info please email us to info@yachtwelfare.it

Download the full notice here YW_News_03_2016

Clarifications on APA – June 2016

Sanremo, 28th June 2016

On June 26th 2016 MYBA has been replied by the Italian Revenue Office to his request of Legal Advice (Consulenza Giuridica No. 954-20/2016) in regards to the right application of VAT on APA (Advance Provisioning Allowance). The reply provided by the Tax Office just proves 2 out of the 3 points already dealt by Yacht Welfare more than 2 years earlier with our Official Petitions No. 903-13/2014 and 903-14/2014 filed with the AdE (Italian Revenue Office) on 23rd January 2014, which we hereby quickly summarize:

1. The mere transfer of APA funds from Charterer to Owner and/or directly to the Captain of the yacht is not taxable as per Art. 2, paragraph-3, letter-a) of DPR 633/1972 (Presidential Decree) being a sum of money provided by the charterer to the yacht’s Owner or Captain.

2. The portion of APA funds used by the Captain on precise instructions of the charterer to the meet personal needs of the above charterer and its guests (for instance, the purchase of food, drinks and transportation) are not subject to VAT as long as adequately recorded in the name of the charterer.

Although we are very proud to understand that the Legal Advice (Consulenza Giuridica No. 954-20/2016) confirms our guidelines provided since 2014, on the other hand we are considerably skeptical of the reply provided by the Italian Revenue Office in regards to point No.3 below, which substantially states that:

3. The portion of APA funds used by the Captain to meet navigation requirements, such as funds for fuel and oil for the engine and on-board systems, are subject to VAT since those amounts are an integral and variable portion of the consideration due for the charter of the yacht and subject to VAT at the same VAT rate as the charter.

In fact it is hard to understand how the Italian Revenue Office could have provided two different interpretations of VAT application to the same notion, in the case in point even providing a subjective distinction between the nature of the supplies(personal needs vs. navigation requirements) , especially considering that no distinction was made in their reply to our Official Petition No. 903-13/2014, in which they unequivocally inform that no VAT is due either on food/drinks and fuel supplies.

Yacht Welfare, for the sake of clarity and to protect his Clients, will start to adopt in full the new ruling by MYBA and will prepare a new request of Legal Advice to examine and understand the inconsistency of the reply provided under point 3.

 

For any additional info please always feel free to inquire at info@yachtwelfare.it.

Download the full notice here YW_News_02_2016

Reduction of Taxes for Berth in Italy from 22% to 10% only

The Italian government’s Gazzetta Ufficiale, which lists newly enacted laws, published no. 300 ‘legge di Stabilità’ on 30 December 2014. Article 1 clause 237 stated that temporary berthing and mooring in Italian waters would now incur a duty of 10 per cent, as opposed to the 22 per cent rate that had been castigated by the Italian yachting industry for its detrimental effect on business. This however, will not apply to permanent berth purchases. For more info please see also http://www.ucina.net/en/component/k2/item/304-il-senato-ha-convertito-con-la-fiducia-il-decreto-legge-sblocca-italia.

No taxation on fuel in Italy

The below advice given on 31th July by the BBD Studio in Italy, expert in taxation law and providing legal and fiscal custody of major Italian firms, strengthen our aversion to the circular note raised by the Customs Office and confirm the possibility for non-EU flagged commercial vessels to take duty free fuel in Italy. For more info please fully read the below doc. from BBD. Any additonal question can be forwarded by email to info@yachtwelfare.it and you will be replied within 24 hours time.

Download here the DOWNLOAD_BBD_Advice

For any additional info please call or email us at info@yachtwelfare.it.

Duty free fuel still available in Italy

The rumors spread in the last days by the operators in the yachting industry about the taxations in Italy on the fuel taken for a charter are just hot air.
We have been officially noticed that the Circular No.10/D Reference Number RU 67167, raised by the Italian Customs Office (Agenzia delle Dogane) on 14 July 2014, goes in direct conflict with the EU laws and rules for what is concerned to the operations of import/export and purchases between EU/EU and EU/non-EU nations.
Many of the local Customs Offices (e.g. Viareggio, Sanremo, etc.) are already not adopting this rule.
In all cases, if for any reason the new rule will find application into the Italian law, the yacht importation (in total exemption of VAT) will be the most valid solution which will put all non-EU ship’s owner companies in the position to get duty free fuel in Italy.
In fact, in accordance to Art. 68 from DPR No. 633/72 and on the base of the Official Questioning 95/E from 14 March 2008, which clearly states that: “Pertanto, l’acquisto o l’importazione di navi da diporto dotate delle caratteristiche di cui sopra può avvenire in regime di non imponibilità, ai sensi del già citato art. 8-bis, a condizione, ovviamente che le medesime siano effettivamente utilizzate dal soggetto acquirente in attività di noleggio come previsto dalla normativa in materia (…) “ it is limpid that the importation practice is not subject to taxation. This means that if any non-EU ship’s owner company needs to import its yacht in Italy no VAT will apply on the yacht’s declared value.

 

For any additional info please call or email us at info@yachtwelfare.it.

No taxes on fuel, food&drink provisioning, deck supplies and repair works

with specific regards to the yacht’s provisions (fuel,  lube oil, food, drinks, spare parts, deck supplies, etc.) and maintenance works on board, for and during a charter subject to the Italians laws and rules, we hereby inform you that from 22nd April 2014, as per our Official Petition 903-13/2014-Art.11, law 27th July 2000, No. 212, filed with the Agenzia Delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Office) on 23rd January 2014, it became official that PROVISIONING is not taxable as per Art. 8-bis, paragraph-1, letter-d) of DPR 633/1972 (Presidential Decree). All the suppliers must head the invoices for PROVISIONING tax free under the ship’s owner company’s name with the Italian VAT code collected by the Fiscal Representative. After, therefore, the charterer is allowed to use APA to refund the ship’s owner company for the PROVISIONING costs. Please send an email to info@yachtwelfare.it for more detailed info.

No more taxes on APA !!!

Be informed that starting from April 2014, as per our Official Petition 903-13/2014-Art.11, law 27th July 2000, No. 212, filed with the Agenzia Delle Entrate (Italian Revenue Office) on 23rd January 2014, it became official that APA is not taxable as per Art. 2, paragraph-3, letter-a) of DPR 633/1972 (Presidential Decree) being a sum of money, given by the charterer to the yacht’s captain, to refund the ship’s owner company for the running expenses during a charter subject to the Italian laws and rules. At the end of the charter a detailed APA report is mandatory to raise the APA invoice under Art.15 No.3 paragraph-1 in favor of the charterer for his own purposes. This invoice is not subject to VAT and can be issued by the Fiscal Representative on behalf of the ship’s owner company. Please send an email to info@yachtwelfare.it for more accurate info.