Hoteliers against renting between individuals
Following pressure from hotel lobbies, the government has just passed a law to tax houseboats. This tax will apply to the number of berths. All pleasure boats, whether sailing or motorized, will be affected.
Because of the presidential elections and the very likely change of sides in the cabinet, the government has decided to pass a decree quickly. It will be published in the Official Gazette on 9 May 2017 with immediate effect.
According to the information in our possession, hoteliers have complained about the growth of boat rentals in the ports. Like their fight against private hire sites such as Airbnb, they are seeking to regulate the new Eldorado for boaters. Indeed, hoteliers estimate that the annual loss due to private hire practices is 35 million euros. Today, statistics show that one in two yachtsmen use private hire sites to make their property profitable.
As a result, the harbours become veritable floating hotels, casting a shadow over the existing hotel park.
Each berth will be taxed
The new tax will apply per bed. Each berth of minimum 50 cm wide by 1.80 m long will be charged a fee of 1000 euros/year. A sum that can quickly become a lot of money if you add up all the berths on the boat..
The Nautical Federation is seeking to counter this law. But faced with the government's swift action, which will soon disappear, it finds itself quite powerless. Contacted by our editorial staff on this issue, its spokesperson simply confided to us: "All the members of the federation are against the project. But as we cannot get it repealed for the moment, we can only advise our practitioners to take the cushions off their boat and keep only the absolutely essential bunks on board".
This instruction may lead to strange situations with pontoons cluttered with boat cushions..
Everyone to declare their number of bunks
But beware, it doesn't save you from the tax. In fact, to make the calculations easier, the tax will be applied on a flat-rate basis: a Sun Fizz has 8 original berths. A tax of 8000 euros will be applied to it. If you have unloaded the cushions, it is up to you to take the necessary steps to demonstrate this to the administration. Situations that can sometimes be ubuesque.
We will not fail to follow this file with vigilance in order to inform you as well as possible and to help you make the right decisions.
