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You are here: Home Finance & Business Tax The hidden costs behind living la dolce vita: Taxes on...

18/06/2007The hidden costs behind living la dolce vita: Taxes on speed boats

It is the ultimate sign you have made it, but owning a speed boat has hidden tax implications. Our expert explains.

Purchase of a new boat in Spain
registered under Spanish Flag (Length above 7.5 metres)

Acquisition by an Individual

If the boat is purchased by an individual in Spain there is no way to avoid these taxes. However, there are some ways of reducing the financial burden by purchasing the boat using the services of a Leasing Company. This is due to a difference in interpretation by member states of the EU as to the “place and supply of goods” and the “place and supply of services” in the application of VAT collection. Some jurisdictions in Europe, like France or Italy consider that depending on the length of the boat there is going to be a certain use of the boat outside EU waters which allows buyers to benefit from lower VAT tax rates.

In Spain, as we said before, there is no a direct tax benefit for the buyer, but as for the French or Italian financial company, which provides the lease, they can benefit from these lower rates in their countries. Therefore they are able to offer to anybody who buys a brand new boat in Spain a financial option that involves a total payment after four years that is the same as the full payment up front.

The Spanish Boat Tax System Explained

The aim of this article is to explain some key questions about tax and leisure boats in Spain. The Spanish tax system is one of the hardest in the EU.

The two main taxes to consider when we buy a boat in Spain or take a boat to Spain are the VAT and the registration (Matriculation) tax.

Any citizen of the European Union has the obligation to register their craft in the country where they have their usual residency.

The Spanish law requires to register, under the Spanish flag, any boat used inside a Spanish territory by a Spanish tax resident.

The concept of Spanish tax residency is defined in the Spanish Personal Income Tax Law, which establishes that any person becomes a Spanish Tax resident if they spend more than 183 days in any one calendar year in a Spanish territory.

1 reaction to this article

Mr C Barrington posted: 24-10-2008 | 1:00 PM

I have a British registered boat which I purchased in Spain, it is commercially coded as a training vessel. I pay local Spanish taxes, do I still need to pay the full Matriculation Tax?

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