Guidelines for the VAT treatment of short-term yacht
chartering
The Ministry for Finance in conjunction with the Maltese VAT
Department has recently issued guidelines on the VAT treatment of
short-term yacht chartering.
These guidelines are particularly relevant following the
CJEU's decision in Bacino wherein it was confirmed that
charters of yachts to private customers are not VAT
exempt.
The guidelines provide the possibility for Maltese VAT to be
charged only on that portion of the short-term charter which is
deemed to take place in EU territorial waters.
This development therefore extends to short-term yacht
chartering the VAT treatment which has been applied to long-term
charters for a number of years.
