"Malta-Lease" was yesterday - Der Yacht Anwalt

MALTA

We have an extensive experience in ship management for Malta with excellent on-site representation and design individual concepts covering the private or commercial operation of a yacht under this flag.
 

The "Malta Lease" has been a thing of the past since 2018. 

The following options remain for a design via MALTAS:

1)

Adhoc taxation of a yacht with 18% VAT. 


With 18% VAT. rate, Malta currently offers the most favourable EU rate at which a purely PRIVATELY used yacht owned by EU residents can be taxed. However, this requires the yacht to be physically transferred to Malta for tax and customs clearance. For this, it must be economically calculated whether the VAT savings clearly exceed the logistics and handling costs so that the venture makes sense. 

2)

Purely commercial use - charter


For this purpose, the yacht can be acquired and operated tax-neutrally. Income and expenses can be offset in the P&L. 

3)

Hybrid Use

This is a form only possible in Malta in the EU for a TAXED yacht which is ALSO used for charter. The yacht can be used in both worlds by switching from "Pleasure" to "Commercial" and back. We have designed and support some of these forms of use and are happy to advise on them individually.

4)

Malta Service Leasing


This is not an instalment lease as in the past, but a true usage lease.

The real usage lease is calculated in real terms and shows the usual residual market value of the yacht at the end of the term. This means that the lessee is free to decide whether to return the leased object, extend the contract if necessary or purchase the leased object at the real residual value.

In the case of such "genuine" use leasing, jurisdictions such as Malta, Italy or France in particular have recently made it possible to provide suitable evidence of the rate of use outside the EU, which can lead to a reduction in VAT.

For the VAT amount, the length of stay of the yacht in the EU is decisive for taxation and suitable for PRIVATE buyers who spend only some time a year with the yacht in EU waters. Only the leasing rates of the time the yacht is in EU waters are taxed.

 

An EU infringement and the incompatibility of the Malta Yacht Lease Scheme with EU law (ECJ/Mercedes Case) led to its end in August 2018. Malta's national law had classified a de facto finance lease as an operating lease for years.

All legal and tax issues remain with the Malta Lease offer from the point of view of the country of residence of the owner / UBO: Fundamental changes of law at EU level and ratification in EU countries as well as recent rulings of the BFH, foreign tax and hidden profit distribution.

 

 

The Problem is not the Malta-Lease-Model per se, but its legal usefor the Non-Malta-citizens. We have worked out a solution in an international, cross-border team afterseveral weeks: to make Malta-Leasing-offer further possible in terms of law and tax for EU-citizens who are Non-Maltese. The solution reached is not a modification in the legal Malta-Yacht-Leasing-Model-offer, rather a necessarily and fundamentally new way of its legal use and delivery- and is individually separated for every event according to the laws prescribed in the country of residence of UBOs. Furthermore, it is important to consider the current changes. There is no scheme, even though it will gladly be sold in Malta.

I can not stress it enough: Malta leasing - till 2018 and especially the new version 2019-  is not a product you can literally buy off a shelf and everything is fine. On the contrary, such a shelf product can not stand an audit if it is not designed according to the tax rules of the country of residence and the tax situation of the owner.

We shall guide you with our Malta-solution legally in Full-Service.