Tag Archives: How to decrease VAT on a yacht charter?

First the bad news – recent legislation in Greece has led to an increase in the country’s VAT rates.

Now for the good news – the increase is small, and depending upon the duration of your superyacht experience, the “effective rate” should have a minimal effect on most Greek yacht charters this summer.

A new VAT rate of 24% has been announced for Greece, and it will affect all yacht charters commencing on or after June 1st, 2016.  The old rate was 23% – making the maximum increase 1%.

While 24% VAT sounds sky-high, don’t fall out of your chair just yet:  there are significant built-in discounts that can reduce the effective VAT rate by up to 60% – depending upon the duration of your charter vacation.

Here’s the math:

I)  Charter duration of 3 days or more.

Luxury yacht charter vessels performing international cruises have a discount of 60%.  This makes the effective VAT rate 9.6% (up from 9.2%).

Charter vessels cruises within Greek waters will earn a discount of 50%, setting the effective VAT rate at 12% ( previously 11.5%).

II)  Charter duration up to 48 hours.

This is where you get hammered as a charterer for taking a day excursion or a trip shorter than 48 hours.  There is NO discount, regardless of where the vessel cruises.  A full VAT of 24% is due (instead of the previous 23%).

In summary – avoid short-term charters in Greece if you can.  As long as you can extend your charter beyond 48 hours, the impact of the effective change in VAT is less than 1%.  Mykonos and Santorini here we come – Opa!!!

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For information about renting a luxury charter yacht in Greece, or anywhere else in the Mediterranean this summer, contact 1-800 Yacht Charters at  +1.800.922.4824 (toll-free North America) or +1.305.253.7245 (international), use our online inquiry form here, or email info@1800yachtcharters.com

This entry was posted in News and tagged Mediterranean yacht charter, VAT value added tax, yacht charter Greece, Greek yacht charter, Mykonos, Santorini, How to decrease VAT on a yacht charter?