ANTI-TAX LOBBY SAILS AHEAD

SINCE last Sunday's interview in the Bulletin with Jonathan Syrett, the Managing Director of Camper and Nicholsons in Palma and one of the founders and Vice President of the The Spanish Association of Superyachts, he and the Bulletin have been inundated with emails from yacht owners either supporting his campaign to scarp the matriculation tax or alerting him to their problems.

In the interview, he heavily criticised Spain's “archaic” matriculation tax on yachts and stressed his determination to have it scrapped, even if he and the yachting industry, which is backing him, have to take the issue to Brussels.

In the interview Syrett, who had met the new head of the tax office just hours before the interview, expressed his concerns that customs were going to move the goal posts and that 15 metre or under vessels would no longer be exempt from paying the 12 percent matriculation tax.

On the Monday it appeared that his fears were not unfounded.
The Bulletin was contacted by a member of a three party UK Limited liability partnership (LLP) which owns a 15 metre Cranchi motor boat which has been on charter in Majorca for the past three years.

It is properly licensed and each year a Charter licence has been granted to a Spanish company which acts as their agent.
A certificate exonerating the motor boat from paying the matriculation tax has also been obtained each year because the motor boat is under 15 metres from the tax office.

But, to their surprise the customs in Majorca notified their agent on Friday of last week that they are impounding the vessel until the matriculation tax has been paid.

This tax is over 19'000 euros and the owners understand that it relates to the value of the boat four years ago and the tax is 12 percent of the value at the time.

Two members of the partnership are new, one joined in June this year, the third member last year and none of them or the LLP have ever been approached by any authority over this matter.

They hold a copy of the exemption certificate first issued in 2006 and cannot see how the customs can try to charge this sum of money when the Agencia Tributaria has exonerated them.

Since the LLP contacted the Bulletin on Monday, it has since been informed that it has until tomorrow, Friday, to pay the 19'000 euros.
The Bulletin has since learned that there are a number of boats under 15 metres with the same problem with the owners of the boat in question claiming that, at least, it is discriminatory against non-Spanish EEC member states as a boat with a Spanish Flag is still excluded from paying this tax.

All other boats owned by Britons, Dutch, French and other EEC citizens are liable. “How can that be fair? Is this the spirit of the Treaty of Rome?” wonder the owners of the motor boat which was apparently impounded yesterday afternoon..

All correspondence the Bulletin is receiving on this matter is being passed on to Syrett who is leading the lobby with the full support of the local and international yachting industry because, as he explained last Sunday, it is preventing the Balearics and Spain in general, from becoming a mayor charter and super yacht destination.

Yesterday, aware of the problems the owners of the Cranchi and many more owners are going through, Syrett said “it is a very hot issue for many yacht owners, crew, charter clients and yachting industry personnel both in and outside Spain… “We need the large yachts here for the summer cruising and we need them to stay here for the winter refits and maintenance etc. “The Balearics have all the potential and we are asking for no money for promotion yet the millions will come in all by themselves if we sort the problem out!” Syrett and the yachting industry has the full support of the Majorcan Chamber of Commerce because, unlike the majority of the local authorities, it is aware of the significant revenue the region is loosing as a result of the tax which is 2009, raised just 1.5 million euros.

As a major charter destination, the Balearics could be enjoying revenue of six to nine million euros per week! And these figures do not include the expenses paid to ports.