New Yacht Taxes in Greece

Created by sue. Last modified on 2009-07-09 17:59:37
Countries: Greece

As part of his 2009 Budget, the Greek Minister of Economy and Finance announced new measures to increase revenue from ALL yachts in Greece.

The measures are the following:

1. Annual excise duties are imposed on yachts over 10m and on sailing boats over 15m docking in the Greek harbours. The duties will scale according to the length of the yacht and depending on whether it is powered by a motor or sails. The excise duties will be payable by all yachts, of private or professional use, irrespective of whether these belong to natural persons or Greek or foreign enterprises, provided they are registered or docked in Greece from 1/1/2009. The applicable details will be published as soon as the relevant bill is brought for discussion in Parliament.

   2. An extraordinary one-off levy is imposed on the owners of yachts, on the same terms and conditions governing the imposition of the yacht excise duties. The extraordinary levy will be calculated based on the length of the yacht and will scale accordingly, so as to correspond to its owner's tax-paying ability. The applicable details will be published when the relevant bill is brought for discussion in Parliament.

The estimated revenue from the imposition of an extraordinary levy on yachts is expected to amount to €60-70 million.

Other measures affecting taxation on fuel may also affect yachtsmen.

Read source news article here

Our thanks to Ellie Lynall for bringing this news to our attention.
Editors Note: It is our belief that both these taxes are only going to apply to boats permanently berthed (i.e which have a berthing contact of some sort) in Greek harbours (whether the owner is Greek or not). Therefore not applicable to transients or visitors. However, on past history, it may not come into force at all as it is part of a package to increase government revenue and a very minor part of the complete set of proposals.