<\/a>Yacht purchase in Palma de Mallorca.<\/strong><\/h2>\nSpanish Law establishes that all vessels from\u00a02.5 meters long<\/strong>\u00a0must be registered in the Register of Ships of the Directorate General of Merchant Navy, which is the official body for yacht registration in Palma de Mallorca. This national Registry has local branches in coastal cities as Palma de Mallorca and, upon request, it can provide information about vessels and owners.<\/p>\nA boat cannot wave two different flags. Then,\u00a0if your boat is flagged in another country<\/strong>, and you want to transfer that registration to Spain, you will be required to first flag down your boat at the Register of Ships of the country of the current flag. This is procedure is mandatory in order to properly register the boat in Spain and must be performed once the sale is finalized.<\/p>\nUnder Spanish law, it is not required to enter into a sales contract in order to purchase a\u00a0second-hand yacht in Mallorca<\/strong>, but it is, nevertheless, highly advisable. A contract allows you to create a record of all sale details: boat and owner identification, price, form of payment, boat items and equipment inventory, etc. and it is certainly the best possible evidence of your ownership over the boat.<\/p>\nIf the seller is a corporation<\/strong>\u00a0and VAT applies to this purchase, an invoice is then necessary for the transaction. This same invoice and\/or contract can also be used in the administrative procedure for the change of yacht ownership. Equally important, this invoice also works as a guarantee for buyer and seller in the event of damage and\/or failure, or in the application for flag removal.<\/p>\nYacht warranty in Palma de Mallorca.<\/strong><\/h2>\nUnder Spanish law, the purchase of a boat is a guaranteed transaction that allocates rights and obligations to buyer and seller. If the boat is new,\u00a0a 2 year warranty applies;<\/strong>\u00a0if the boat is second-hand, and the seller a company, the same 2 year warranty period is prescribed by law. Finally, if the transaction involves a large boat, contracts are also commonly subjected to English law.<\/p>\nFor second-hand boats the applicable warranty period is dependent on the nature of the contracting parties, particularly where the seller is an entrepreneur.\u00a0If both parties are private individuals, and not companies, the seller must provide, by law, a 6 month warranty<\/strong>\u00a0to the buyer as reassurance against potential latent defects in the vessel, i.e., pre- existing defects and\/or failures that are previous to the sale and were not detected at the time of the transaction.<\/p>\nThese potentially hidden defects are important to the transaction as they may affect the terms and conditions of the contract and the actual sale itself.\u00a0If latent defects arise, during the 6 month yacht warranty<\/strong>, the buyer is then entitled to withdraw from the contract or to renegotiate the price with the seller.<\/p>\nIf you hire a\u00a0yacht broker in Palma de Mallorca<\/strong>, you should know that the vessel warranty usually applies for the seller, not the broker, unless this professional acts as the vessel seller.<\/p>\nYacht taxes in Palma de Mallorca: VAT and ITP (Property Transfer Tax).<\/h2>\n
If you buy a\u00a0new yacht in Palma de Mallorca<\/strong>, it will be necessary that the seller issues VAT invoice, currently at 21% rate but expected to peak 23% shortly; if it is a\u00a0second-hand yacht in Palma, and the seller a company<\/strong>, a VAT invoice also applies. On the other hand,\u00a0If the buyer is foreign company<\/strong>, VAT is payable in the country of boat registration; but if that vessel is for\u00a0private use of residents in the European Union, VAT is payable in Spain<\/strong>.<\/p>\nA boat transaction also pays Property\u00a0Transfer Tax (ITP)<\/strong>, due to the change of ownership in the Spanish Register of Ships. Therefore, once VAT is paid, if the ship remains registered in Spain, this tax duty, amounting to 4% of boat value, will apply.<\/p>\nYou should be aware that Property Transfer Tax always applies to any yacht purchase where\u00a0no VAT is applicable<\/strong>. Thus,\u00a0any acquisition of foreign vessels in Palma de Mallorca<\/strong>\u00a0and, anywhere in Spain, as well as\u00a0vessel transactions between foreign parties<\/strong>\u00a0must always meet this tax liability.<\/p>\nYacht registration tax.<\/strong><\/h2>\nThere is also a special tax on some transports applicable for yachts in Palma de Mallorca:\u00a0the registration tax<\/strong>. This Spanish tax applies\u00a0to vessels from 8 meters long, registered in Spain<\/strong>.<\/p>\nIf the boat is to be registered in another country<\/strong>, it then will be necessary to first apply for flag deregistration in Palma de Mallorca. This procedure has to be performed in any of the country\u00b4s\u00a0capitanias maritimas<\/strong>\u00a0which are the local sailing authorities.<\/p>\n