As regards a boat under Greek flag used for chartering, VAT should be paid when sold to a private individual, EU physical person, for personal use. The payment takes place in Greece, in the Customs (for boats up to 10 years old) or, Seller’s Tax Office for boats over 10 years old.
Below you can see the valuation system according to the Law 4569/2018 (Articles 10a) and 10b) for the pleasure boats:
a) The taxable value of a recreational vessel, for which an obligation arises to pay VAT following termination of the charter license or cessation of business activity, is based on the initial price to the first owner, following the completion of the building or structure. If that does not reveal the exact date of construction, will run from 1 January of the year of construction of a recreational vessel, as revealed by any relevant shipping document or document issued by the yard. In the event that there is not a document or documentary evidence, which shows the initial value of the recreational vessel, the same determined by written confirmation of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping (NEE)
The resulting value in the above decreases due to age as follows:
after the completion of the first year 10% ,
The second year 15%
The third year 20%
The fourth year 25 %
Fifth year 30%
and so on,
b) At the same time, the insurance policy of the boat, which is in force at the time of the tax claim, is presented, and in case of doubt of the insured value by the tax or customs authority, the insurance contracts of the previous two years are presented. If the insurance value is greater than the ship’s price, as it appears after its impairment, due to its age, this value is taken into account for determining the taxable value.
After finishing the VAT payment procedure, the Customs, or the Seller’s Tax Office, provides the seller a receipt for VAT payment for the specific boat. In our turn, we give this receipt for payment to the buyer along with the official translation in English.
Athens - 32 Lochagou Chronopoulou, 17 455 Alimos, Greece
Tel: +30 6974 069 357
Contact Person: Yiannis Drimousis
e-mail: [email protected] (We reply within 24hrs)