As a reminder
To navigate under the French flag, some boaters must pay a francisation tax paid annually. This contribution applies to pleasure or sports vessels intended for use at sea with a hull length of more than 7 m or less, but with an engine equal to or greater than 22 HP (fiscal horsepower).
Until now, the amount of the tax decreased with the age of the boat, applied to both the hull and the engine(s):
- 33% for boats 10 to 20 years old;
- 55% for boats 20 to 25 years old;
- 80% for boats over 25 years old.
Abatement removed for boats under 11 years old
Article 224 of the Customs Code (2019 Finance Act) resulting from Law No. 2018-1317 of December 28, 2018, abolishes the abatement scheme based on the obsolescence of vessels, as of 1 er january 2019.
In concrete terms, vessels that were already benefiting from the obsolescence allowance in 2018 will continue to benefit in the same way after January 1, 2019. For example, if your vessel is 12 years old on January 1, 2019, it will continue to benefit from its 33% abatement. But when it waits until it is 20 years old, it will not pass the 55% threshold.
The other boats will no longer benefit from it. Thus, all the boats having less than 11 years old on the 1st of January will not benefit from this program er january 2019 will no longer be eligible for an obsolescence allowance. Therefore, they will continue to pay the full rate of DAFN.
Why?
To justify the implementation of this new law, the government invokes several reasons:
- Encourage owners of old boats, which are more polluting than new boats put on the market, to change. In view of the challenges of sustainable development, this provision is all the more paradoxical as the older the vessel, the greater the allowance.
- Combat the erosion of the proceeds of the annual fee for freezing and navigation (DAFN) which benefits the Conservatoire national du littoral et des rivages lacustres. The latter should receive 37 million euros in revenue from the DAFN in 2019, i.e. 1.5 million euros less than the ceiling provided for in I of article 46 of law no. 2011-1977 of 28 December 2011 on the 2012 budget.
- Target owners of new and heavily motorized boats, with the objective of dissuasion.
