Article 8 bis of Presidential Decree No. 633 of 1972 provides that purchases of goods and services intended for a yacht are not taxable for VAT purposes if certain specific conditions are met.

In particular, and from a substantive point of view, the recognition of the non-taxable regime in question is subject to the fulfilment of a twofold prerequisite: it must concern yachts that are used for cruising on the high seas and also that they are used for commercial activities (such as, for example, leasing and chartering).

From a formal point of view, in order to be able to benefit from the application of this VAT regime, it is necessary that, before making exempt purchases pursuant to Article 8 bis of Presidential Decree 633/72, a special declaration (the so-called ‘nautical declaration’) be submitted to the Revenue Agency with the purpose of certifying the joint possession of the two substantial requirements mentioned above.

Well, with its recent answer to Ruling request no. 1 of 2025, the Revenue Agency provided important clarifications on the application of this regime in the event of a yacht registered for private use that undergoes major refit works (extraordinary maintenance aimed at the structural transformation of a vessel) precisely for the purpose of equipping it so that it can be in the future registered as a commercial vessel for passenger transport.

The Tax Office clarified that in such a case it is possible to invoke the Article 8 bis regime even if it is still registered as a pleasure yacht by submitting a nautical declaration in advance stating that the yacht will be used in a commercial activity upon completion of the refit works.

In this way the owner has the opportunity to declare that upon completion of the refit work the conditions for the application of the VAT exemption scheme will be fulfilled and thus be able to benefit from it in advance of the actual use of the unit in commercial activities.

In the case of a major refit, once the works aimed at making the yacht suitable for registration in the registers as a commercial vessel have been completed, the yacht may actually be used for navigation on the high seas for business purposes.

The tax authorities came to this conclusion on the basis of the consideration that this case constitutes a hypothesis of objective discontinuity in the use of the means of transport (yacht) capable of legitimizing the invocation of the exemption regime. That is so, even if in the last year of operation ¬ i.e. the year before it entered the shipyard ¬ the yacht was used for private purposes.

The Tax Administration, in the case in which the refitting is particularly invasive ¬ such as that aimed at making the yacht suitable for commercial use - has considered that for tax purposes the case can be assimilated to the case of yachts under construction for which the Revenue Agency had already in the past confirmed the possibility of invoking the regime ex art. 8 bis in advance (therefore before delivery and thus before the actual use of the yachts for commercial purposes).

Anyway, the Tax Office has also specified that such maintenance must in any case be carried out under the constant control of the authority in charge (certification register) in order to verify that it is actually aimed at issuing the appropriate on-board certifications attesting the existence of the class and safety requirements (class certificate and safety certificate) envisaged for yachts under commercial use, which will be in addition to the standard certifications.

Lastly, please note that also in this case, similarly to what has already been clarified by resolution no. 39/E of 28 May 2021 with regard to yachts under construction, the condition of the actual use of the yacht for navigation on the high seas must be ascertained not at the end of the calendar year in which the declaration is submitted, but at the end of the year following the launch of the yacht (i.e. the year of first use after refitting).

Dott. Ezio Vannucci

Dott. Andrea Barabino

MOORES ROWLAND PARTNERS

www.mooresrowlandpartners.com