According to Spanish regulations, there are 3 types of taxes that can be applied to a boat:

Value Added Tax, commonly known as VAT; the Property Transfer Tax, which taxes the transfer of real estate and personal property, known as PTT; and the Registration Tax of the new means of Transport, which is levied on the purchase of new boats over 8 meters in length.

VAT on yachts, new or second-hand

The most well-known of all taxes is VAT, which is currently applied at 21% (as a general rule) on the taxable base established in the purchase contract.

It must be itemized on the invoice of new or second-hand yachts that have never been owned by a private individual, and therefore have not yet been taxed for VAT.

Property Transfer Tax on second-hand boats

On the other hand, second-hand boats owned by private individuals are subject to Property transfer tax (PTT).

Every year the Ministry of Finance publishes in the BOE a list of recreational boats and their valuation for transfer purposes, colloquially known as "the tables of the Tax Office".

In these tables the minimum value for which the PTT must be paid is indicated. The amount on which the tax is applied will always be the one that appears in the contract of sale, unless this is lower than the one indicated in the tables, then it will be applied on the value established in these tables, since it is the minimum value that the Tax Office will admit.

For example, if we sell a boat for a value of 10,000 € and the tables stipulate it at 5,000 €, the tax will be applied on 10,000 €, which is the real value of the purchase and is also higher than that of the tables. If on the other hand, in the same example, the value of that unit were 20,000 € according to the tax tables, the tax would be settled on this amount and not on the real market value.

It is the obligation of the buyer to pay this tax, in the Autonomous Community where he/she has the fiscal residence, within the term established in the regulation and according to the liquidation criteria imposed by each Autonomous Community where the fiscal residence is located. The tax rate usually ranges between 4 and 8%, but here is a table, which may vary annually at the criteria of each Autonomous Community:

Thus, a boat will always be taxed by either of these two taxes: either it will pay VAT or PTT, one of the two.

It is important to emphasize that both taxes are exclusive. That is to say, it will never be settled by VAT and PTT at the same time, if a purchase of a boat pays VAT it cannot pay PTT and vice versa.

Registration Tax on recreational boats

Finally, according to the stipulated in Title II of Law 38/1992, of December 28, 1992, which regulates the taxation of the registration tax of recreational boats, the so-called "Special Tax on Certain Means of Transport" or also known as Registration Tax, is where the obligation to pay such tax to new and used recreational boats is established and which is detailed below.

Boat owners, tax residents in Spain, are subject to the tax for the first registration of recreational or water sports ships/boats, new or used, with more than 8 meters in fiscal length; or the first registration of jet skis, regardless of their length.

Recreational boats with a fiscal length of less than 8 meters, regardless of the use to which they are destined, are not subject to this tax. Therefore, recreational boats with a fiscal length of more than 8 meters are exempt from this special tax as long as they are used exclusively for nautical activities such as rental or whose owner is a sailing academy.

The general rate of this tax is 12% on the value of the boat and its accessories, except in the Canary Islands where it is 11% and in Ceuta and Melilla where they have a special regime and is 0%, ie not taxed by this tax any boat.

It is important to note that, as in the case of PTT, the registration tax is a tax whose collection is also transferred to the Autonomous Communities, and therefore they have the regulatory capacity to modify the tax rate, so we can find different rates depending on the Autonomous Community.