Valid for 2021 Until 30 September 2021

We would like to inform you that Decree A.1070/2021 was published yesterday afternoon. According to this Decree the previous one (A.1118/2020), regarding the tax relief because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the calculation of the VAT of the chartering of commercial vessels based on the category of the vessel (A, B, C) described in the Decree ΠΟΛ.1159/1997, will be suspended on 01-04-2021. In conclusion, you can proceed with the calculation of VAT as follows:

1. VAT Imposed on the entirety of the recompense (100% of the taxable value). Keep in mind that a 13% VAT is calculated in this transports until the 30-09-2021.
2. VAT Imposed  on the 50% of the entirety of the recompense for the provision of such services as part of the voyage in conducted in international waters or in a state outside the EU. It is considered that ships finalize 50% of the tax percentage for the entirety of the freights completed within a tax year according to Sent. C of Par. 1 of the Art. 3 of this Decree, only if 60% of the usage time of the ship, as results of the lease time of the ship, as well as 60% of the total distance made is conducted outside the territorial waters of the mainland (open sea voyage), if the departure harbor is located on the mainland or outside the territorial waters of the island where the harbor is located or/and in territorial waters of another state outside of the EU. The ship-owner must provide proof of all aforementioned requirements in any means possible such as private GPS and the printing of such data.
3. VAT could also be Imposed On the entirety of the recompense (100% of the taxable value) with the ability to reduce the taxable value and VAT return with the issue of an invoice for the customer after the completion of all freights and the determination and proof of the real usage of the ship within or outside the Greek territorial waters (GPS data).

It is of vital importance to keep in mind that up until the commencement of the electronic application of the Article 6 of the Decree A.1018/2020, the determination of each calendar year is conducted based on the data submitted by the ship-owners by any means possible such as GPS and the AIS system or by printing all these data and submitting them to the tax authorities.

You must use the same way of calculating VAT throughout the whole calendar year.

To sum up, you can make your choice based on the following data:

1. If it is certain that the we can print any necessary data from a GPS or that you will be able to prove throughout the tax year the entirety of the open sea voyages (60% of the usage time of the ship, as results from the lease time, and above 60% of the total distance covered outside the territorial waters of the mainland (pen sea voyage) if the departure harbor is located on the mainland or outside the territorial waters of the island, where the           departure harbor is located, or/and outside the territorial waters of another state outside the EU) you can chose either (2) or (3)
2. If above is not certain that we will have all necessary data at our disposal, it is preferable to calculate a VAT of 13% for the whole freight (case (1)).