EU to Take Ireland to Court Over Yacht Fuel Breaches

As a result, the European Commission has decided to refer the country to the Court of Justice of the European Union for not properly applying the rules on fiscal marking on fuel.

Under EU legislation, fuel that can benefit from a reduced tax rate has to be marked by coloured dye.

Fishing boats are among some of the vessels allowed to use this fuel, while private yachts must use a fuel subject to a standard rate.

The European Commission said in a statement: "Currently, Ireland breaches EU law by allowing the use of marked fuel for the purposes of private pleasure craft.

"As a consequence, private leisure boats cannot only use fuel intended for fishing vessels but also risk heavy penalties if they travel to another member state and the boat is inspected by the local authorities.

"Moreover, it cannot be considered that Ireland has properly implemented its obligation to apply a minimum level of taxation in accordance with Directive 2003/96/EC.

While Irish law requires craft owners to pay to the Revenue the difference between the tax paid on marked gas oil and that due if the gas oil had been charged at the standard rate, the low number of tax returns indicate that the minimum level of taxation is not applied."

The European Commission made a request for Irish authorities to amend the relevant legislation back in April, but so far nothing has been done.

"As there have been no changes to the legislation, the Commission has decided to bring the matter before the Court of Justice," the commission said.

*Original story: Yachting & Boating World via Google News (Search term: Yacht)
*Image credit: Flickr/Nick CC2.0