Pratiques et Techniques en Plaisance
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Une excellente synthèse, probablement meilleure que celle de JimB, sur Cruising Association, qui par moments me semble être un foutu terrien… Elle émane de « Athene of Lymington », que vous avez probablement croisé si vous naviguez en Méditerranée Orientale. Il donne une analyse me semblant très pertinente, dans Cruiser Wiki, entr’autre, excellent guide en ligne pour les ports et mouillages de cette région, probablement le meilleur.
Cruiser log, chez Cruiser Wiki
The Greek government has passed a law imposing a new cruising tax on all yachts visiting Greek waters. The new tax comes into force on 1 January 2014. The tax is levied based on overall length as follows :
7 - 8 metres : 200€ annually
8 -10 metres : 300€ annually
10-12 metres : 400€ annually
Over 12 metres (starting from first metre) : 100€ per metre annually
For vessels staying under a year, it is possible to pay monthly at the rate of €10 per metre per month. A 30 per cent discount applies if the vessel is ’permanently based’ in Greece (in other words, has no plans to cruise outside the country and can prove it, e.g. by virtue of a 12-month marina contract).
I don’t think I’d like to be a Greek port police officer when all the skippers who have laid up in Greece for the winter return next year to find they’ve suddenly become subject to a significant unexpected tax.
It appears to be cleverly framed not to penalise Greek private vessels (the vast majority of which are motorboats under 12 metres) and charter operations (who get a 50 per cent reduction). The government’s argument, of course, is that most surrounding countries levy various forms of tax, e.g. Croatia, Italy, Montenegro and Turkey. The difference is (I’m afraid to say) that most Greek harbours provide absolutely nothing for the money, whereas in their competitor countries visiting yachts at least get a modicum of facilities, even if there are notable exceptions.
It wouldn’t be so bad if this money was going to be reinvested in general harbour infrastructure to e.g. repair broken mooring rings, install water and electricity points, clear old mooring chains and blocks, refurbish quays, even maybe put in laid moorings etc, but sadly that’s highly unlikely.
I fear the net result of this tax will be a boost to government revenues at the expense of hundreds of Greek businesses that depend on cruisers for survival, since many cruisers will bypass Greece or simply spend less time there.
In 2013 many taverna owners and other businesses in cruising areas were already complaining about reduced trade - they may (for no fault of their own) find 2014 marks the start of some even tougher years to come.
Latest information on the Greek Cruising Tax suggests that it may be levied even on yachts laid up for the winter. Which will be a big shock to skippers returning to their 12 metre plus boats in Greece next April/May if they discover they have an unexpected bill of 1200 Euros or more to pay as soon as or before they launch !
There is also some doubt over whether yachts over 12 metres will, after all, be able to pay monthly (hence the above).
Unless there are some concessions - especially for yachts just passing through - it’s likely a lot of yachts will either bypass Greece on passage or attempt to evade the tax by anchoring in remote locations.
Michel, Laorana, dec 2013