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V1849-14 10 July 2014 · SG de Impuestos sobre el Consumo Criterion in force
IVA · navegación marítima internacional

Fishing vessels returning to port every two days do not qualify as international maritime navigation

A fishing vessel supplier has enquired whether frequent port calls for unloading allow their activity to be classified as international maritime navigation for tax exemption purposes. The Directorate-General for Taxes (DGT) has ruled that, because calls are made within less than 48 hours, the requirement for international navigation is not met.

The question raised

Whether such stopovers influence the consideration of the performance of international maritime navigation, both for Value Added Tax and for Excise Duties.

The DGT's ruling

For Excise Duties, international maritime navigation requires that non-stop navigation exceeds 48 hours; any stopover within that period prevents such classification. For VAT, vessels that make these frequent stopovers are considered subject to coastal fishing and not to international maritime navigation. Therefore, the exemption for provisioning products under the concept of international navigation does not apply.

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