Vat tax in Spanish waters

[Boston lab girl]

I was just reading an article about the VAT tax in Spain. It said it was charging it to cruise ship passengers who were ordering drinks in Spanish ports and waters. NCL was charging  their passengers the tax even when they had drink packages. I was wondering if anybody had been on a celebrity cruise in Spanish waters recently and if they had been charged the tax. Thanks in advance

[PTC DAWG]

How much could it be? 

[cruisestitch]

20% and from what I have read this does seem to bE an NCL issue.  For now

 

 

[Boston lab girl]

Thanks for the answer.I am leaving in 34 days and wondering if celebrity was following NCL lead. Glad to know they are not.

[Mr. Click]

We did our last Med cruise prep-pandemic so it has been a while but the rule then was if the ship stopped in at least one non-EU port then they did not have to charge the VAT but if the cruise was all EU ports then VAT was charged, and the duty free alcohol and tobacco shop was never open.  IF the VAT was being charged you could apply for a refund as you left the EU IF you were taking goods with you.  VAT paid for consumables and items you were not taking with you were not refundable.  Is that still the rule today?  Something to look up....

[cruisestitch]

Yes, that is still the rule, you cannot claim the VAT back on consumables, only on goods you are taking with you out of the EU

[mickey89]

If you purchase the drinks package when aboard the VAT will be applied to your cruise if a non-EU port is not on its itinerary. All pre-cruise purchases are exempt from VAT regardless of ports of call.

Examples of Non-EU ports  are -  Gibraltar, Kotor, Kusadasi, Istanbul, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco 

Edited October 2, 2023 by mickey89

[gold1953]

We have been warned while on Celebrity cruises that while in Spanish waters that there will be a VAT tax charged. It does not apply to prepaid items. We just didn't spend until we were clear of that zone

[mickey89]

1 minute ago, gold1953 said:

We have been warned while on Celebrity cruises that while in Spanish waters that there will be a VAT tax charged. It does not apply to prepaid items. We just didn't spend until we were clear of that zone

On Mediterranean cruises, no matter which cruise line, VAT will be applied to all onboard purchases no matter which waters you are in. The applicable VAT will be French, Spanish or Italian and varies between 20%-22% which is determined by the embarkation port.

[Whinenowine]

9 minutes ago, mickey89 said:

On Mediterranean cruises, no matter which cruise line, VAT will be applied to all onboard purchases no matter which waters you are in. The applicable VAT will be French, Spanish or Italian and varies between 20%-22% which is determined by the embarkation port.

That's what we were told on our Edge Barcelona closed-loop cruise in August (but not until we were aboard). All EU ports of call, so VAT would be charged on all on-board purchases. Didn't really have an issue with this given all our drinks and excursions were pre-paid.  But I did have an issues with our Eden dinner, which X did NOT allow us to book until on board and cost us an additional 20%. Live and learn.

[mickey89]

....agree that Celebrity should be more open and publicise the VAT charges in its FAQ's

[hcat]

we actually got caught with a local sales tax in a Calif port when we overnighted there &  purchased a specialty dinner for that night onboard. ..No one warned us.. got a small credit back  as good will!

 

traps and pitfalls!

[Alakegirl]

1 hour ago, mickey89 said:

On Mediterranean cruises, no matter which cruise line, VAT will be applied to all onboard purchases no matter which waters you are in. The applicable VAT will be French, Spanish or Italian and varies between 20%-22% which is determined by the embarkation port.

Not quite true unless on a closed loop cruise with all EU ports.

 

most, but not all Mediterranean cruises make a stop at a non-EU location, which then avoids the VAT tax.

[mickey89]

57 minutes ago, Alakegirl said:

Not quite true unless on a closed loop cruise with all EU ports.

 

Agreed as I said in post #7.  

I was answering  Gold1953 - who said VAT was charged when in Spanish waters which is incorrect. If applicable it is charged for the full duration of the cruise not just who's waters you are in.  Unlike in the US where Tax is due on purchases made onboard until in International waters.

[steamboats]

Food and beverages have a reduced VAT rate in Spain and it´s 10%. The regular rate is 20%.

 

France has the regular rate of 20% for alcoholic beverages. Other beverages have a reduced rate.

 

VAT rates vary from country to country.

 

steamboats

[Jim_Iain]

It is possible for the ship to charge you VAT when in

16 hours ago, mickey89 said:

On Mediterranean cruises, no matter which cruise line, VAT will be applied to all onboard purchases no matter which waters you are in. The applicable VAT will be French, Spanish or Italian and varies between 20%-22% which is determined by the embarkation port.

 

Agree with you with a caveat.   If the Mediterranean has at least one non-EC port then they do not collect VAT when at sea between ports.    We were on a B2B recently where one let had an EC port and the other had no-EC ports.   On the one with no-EC ports the duty free was closed for the entire cruise while on the other it was open.  

 

Also the crew were telling us they needed to buy internet minutes  on the cruise with an EC Port.

 

BTW our non-EC country on our Med cruise was Montenegro.

[gold1953]

On 10/2/2023 at 10:09 AM, mickey89 said:

Agreed as I said in post #7.  

I was answering  Gold1953 - who said VAT was charged when in Spanish waters which is incorrect. If applicable it is charged for the full duration of the cruise not just who's waters you are in.  Unlike in the US where Tax is due on purchases made onboard until in International waters.

well I can assure you that Celebrity announced this while we were onboard so it is not incorrect. We held off purchases until we were outside the zone Perhaps it changed since.

[PTC DAWG]

If I want a drink etc, I’m not going to let a small VAT tax stand in my way.  That’s me. 

[Whinenowine]

2 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

If I want a drink etc, I’m not going to let a small VAT tax stand in my way.  That’s me. 

While I agree with you in principle, at 20% it's not small.  So for anyone without a drinks package, each drink would cost you 40% more than the price listed on the menu--20% automatic gratuity and 20% VAT.  I had a package, so I only paid the VAT on the incremental amount of drinks more expensive than my package--which was just a buck or two per drink (no biggie).

[travelberlin]

On 10/2/2023 at 5:59 AM, gold1953 said:

We have been warned while on Celebrity cruises that while in Spanish waters that there will be a VAT tax charged. It does not apply to prepaid items. We just didn't spend until we were clear of that zone

This applies also to ports in Italy 

[jimzgoldfinch]

We had a meal in Tuscan Grill whist we were in Bilbao. To avoid the additional tax, the bill was prepared after we sailed.

 

On recent cruise, drinks up charge included extra tax - instead of $2.4 we were charged $2.6. No tax on drinks within classic limit.

[PTC DAWG]

5 minutes ago, jimzgoldfinch said:

We had a meal in Tuscan Grill whist we were in Bilbao. To avoid the additional tax, the bill was prepared after we sailed.

 

On recent cruise, drinks up charge included extra tax - instead of $2.4 we were charged $2.6. No tax on drinks within classic limit.

As usual, many of these threads are much ado about nothing.