Russia to increase tax burden of yacht owners
The government has more than doubled transport tax and is considering banning yacht imports altogether
Owning a boat or yacht in Russia is to become more costly, thanks to the government's recent decision to increase the tax burden of yacht owners.
As part of the plans, the existing transport tax on boats and yachts has already more than doubled – from RUB 40 (US$0.69) to RUB 100 per hp, as of May 1.
According to the Russian Ministry of Emergency, tax on boats and yachts will be paid at the place of registration by the owner, not boats, as it was in the past. The latter has already been criticized by analysts of the Russian Association of Yachting, who believe this may result in a significant increase in the number of deregistered boats and yachts in Russia and an increase in illegal activities.
More importantly, the latest state initiative may also result in the complete suspension of imported yachts to the country, the volume of which increased significantly this year after the Russian governmernt decided to lift import duties on yachts within the territory of Russia in 2016.
The import ban could take place in the case of final adoption of new technical regulations that came into force in Russia and other countries of the Customs Union such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
According to the new regulations, all boats and yachts imported into Russia must have 'ERA-GLONASS', the Russian system of emergency response, the lack of which will result in the refusal of the provision of registration certificates to boats by the Russian authorities.
The regulations have already forced some leading yacht importers and producers operating in Russia to warn their local partners about their plans to significantly cut their Russian range this year.
According to producers, the installation of ERA-GLONASS systems will result in additional costs for them, which may make further imports of some types of boats and yachts to Russia unprofitable.
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