The Greek parliament had already passed the resolution for the boat tax in 2014, and three years later the Ministry of Shipping ordered its implementation. However, a signature and implementing ordinances from the Ministry of Finance, which is also responsible, were still missing. As a result, nobody really believed that the tax would be implemented, as it had already been announced too often and then not realised.
But now the government of Alexis Tsipras is getting serious. According to Joachim Rollhäuser, the Greek representative of the Cruiser Department, the text of the new Decree 4504/2017, which regulates the practical implementation, was published in the Official Gazette on 16 November. Accordingly, the tax, which must be paid on a monthly or annual basis depending on the length of the boat for yachts of seven metres or more, will be due from 26 November this year.
The only exceptions to this are boats that are ashore for winter storage, provided that the local harbour authorities have been informed of this. KA comments: "However, the prerequisite is that a corresponding application has been submitted to the relevant harbour authority and the boat has been entered in the book for decommissioned vessels." All owners who have a permanent berth in the water would actually have to pay from November. The fee can either be paid for the whole year or, for crews who only want to sail in Greek waters for a limited period, on a monthly basis.
However, the cruiser department has already pointed out to the authorities that this implementation is difficult, as many owners do not use their boats again until spring or check on them on site (for the cruiser department's report, go to here). However, since the levynot by electronic meansAs it is not possible to pay the tax, but owners actually have to do this with the relevant harbour authorities on site, it is very likely that many will not be able to comply with the tax obligation. Apparently, the officials are now endeavouring to implement an extension of the deadline until spring. The Greek-English papers for the new tax can be downloaded here here.
The tax quickly adds up to over 1000 euros per year, especially for owners of larger yachts; for a 13-metre yacht, for example, 1248 euros are due. For those affected, it may therefore be worthwhile in future to leave the boat ashore during the winter break.
However, there are discount rules:
- Anyone who pays for the whole year in advance in December of the old year or January of the new year receives a 10 per cent discount.
- For boats over 12 metres in length that enter the country for the first time and stay for a whole year, a 20 percent discount is deducted.
- There is a 25 per cent discount for charter boats that are not also used privately.
The third point is still somewhat unclear, as there are also a number of owners who have acquired charter yachts in the buy-charter model and can then use them for their own holidays. It remains to be seen whether these models will also receive the 25 per cent discount.
At the same time as the law has now been published, aObligation to registerhas been introduced in Greece. According to the Cruiser Department: "With immediate effect, private (leisure) boats flying the Greek flag and (leisure) boats used for business purposes flying the Greek flag or a foreign flag must be registered in this new electronic register of the Independent Hellenic Public Revenue Authority (AADE). Private boats with a foreign flag are excluded."
