Tag Archives: vessel

2017 Rules in Croatia

Please find below a detailed update for 2017 released by our Croatian partner:

Part of our business is keeping up with the ever changing maritime laws and regulations in the region. So with the possibility of some important changes to charter tax potentially being instated this year, we’ve been keen to inform everyone in the industry. We were going to wait until the changes took effect before sending out this update, but after hearing conflicting information from many other people in the industry outside of the country, we decided to send it out early. It covers the main VAT regulations and charter activities in Croatia that are set to change this year. Of course, we will continue to release pertinent information as we learn more from the relevant authorities. The following are the changes we have been informed of that should come into force for the upcoming 2017 season.
VAT and Charter Regulation Changes for 2017:

1. VAT will be charged to all commercial yachts that start charters (embark guests) in 3rd countries, proportionate to the time spent in Croatia. For instance, if a yacht embarks guests in Montenegro and comes to Croatia for 6 days, charter guests will need to pay Croatian VAT for 6 days.
2. All non-EU flagged commercial yachts will be allowed to perform charters in Croatia, but will be required to obtain a charter license. There is no longer a limit on the yacht’s length in order to perform charters in Croatia. The license will be valid for the calendar year. The number of licenses issued might be limited based on the Croatian market supply situation. Please note from the above info, ALL non-EU flagged commercial yachts will be able to start charters in Croatia if they obtain a charter license and have a charter and VAT representative!
3. Commercial yacht owners and owning companies are allowed to perform charters in Croatia, either through charter companies / ship agents or if they open their own charter company in Croatia.
4. Commercial yacht owners and owning companies from the EU are NOT obliged to have a VAT and fiscal representative in Croatia, while yacht owning companies from non-EU countries ARE obliged to have a VAT and fiscal representative in Croatia.
5. Private yachts will still be able to embark and disembark their guests in Croatia regardless of flag. In cases where the owner and family members are not onboard, the Captain will have to have an authorized list of people with: 1) names of guests and, 2) length of time that these guests will spend on the yacht. This list of people will have to be authorized by the Captain’s signature and the yacht’s stamp.
6. VAT for charter activities in Croatia is still 13% for weekly charters and 25% for daily charters.

As soon as the administration finalizes and publishes the relevant information under points 1 and 2 above, we will inform you immediately. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time
Advice: if you are coming to Croatia this season and plan on having a busy charter season, you should start preparing NOW.
Thank you for your time and attention. All the best and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

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)