Occasional rental: we explain the whole truth

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One of the few positive innovations for boating introduced during the infamous Monti government period was that of occasional chartering, or the possibility for a private individual to charter his or her own boat through simplified regulations.

AN OPPORTUNITY THAT HAS NOT YET TAKEN OFF
Amid bureaucratic delays and, as is always the case, unclear regulations, casual hiring has been slow to take off. Many people write and call us in the editorial office to ask for clarification about the necessary documentation, how long per year you can rent the boat, taxation… So here we decided to finally clear the air once and for all. Four questions and four answers drafted by our consultant, experienced Yachting Lawyer Antonello Meloni (for more info, www.studiolegalemeloni.eu).

rental-occasionalOCCASIONAL HIRE, OUR GUIDE
1. Who can practice casual hiring?
The “holder who is a natural person,” the “companies not having rental or lease as their business purpose,” or the “user by way of leasing.” The wording “natural person owner” has created considerable interpretative problems, as it is legally equivocal; for clarification purposes, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport intervened, which in a specific note clarified that the natural person owner is identified with the owner-owner of the recreational boat or vessel. In fact, the casual hire contract establishes a direct relationship between the owner-owner and the customer transported, while subsequent use by a third party would rather seem to take on the connotation of a sub-hire, cases not covered by the rule under consideration and which would imply, in any case, the exercise of an activity of a commercial nature. Art. 23 of Law no. 98/2013 finally introduced the possibility of exercise also for companies not having rental or leasing as their corporate purpose, thus extending the range of those entitled to exercise to such of companies as well.

2. Are special qualifications required for the operation of units used for occasional hire?
It should be premised that the only recreational units on which occasional chartering can be exercised are boats and ships; watercraft are excluded. The command and conduct of the recreational boat may be assumed with only the requirement of possessing a boat license, thus derogating from the above-mentioned provisions on the establishment and regulation of recreational professional titles. The professional title is, however, required if the occasional chartering is done on recreational vessels. These licenses are required both when conducting is the direct responsibility of the shipowner and when the shipowner makes use of the labor services of other personnel, which are included among the occasional services of the incidental type.

3. What are the requirements in order to practice?
The exercise of chartering is subject only to communication, to be made by telematic means, to the Inland Revenue Agency and the territorially competent Port Authority, as well as to Inps and Inail, in the case of the employment of additional personnel, namely: the form to be sent to the IRS, in addition to providing a wider choice of electronic formats (pdf, gif, tff or jpg), will have to be attached to an e-mail message to be forwarded to the IRS central assessment directorate box: dc.acc.noleggio@agenziaentrate.it; for communications to the Harbour Master’s Offices, the decree stipulates that the obligated parties must fill out and sign the form in pdf format that is available on the institutional website of the Harbour Master’s Offices and send it by e-mail to the competent Harbour Master’s Office;in case the occasional hire gives rise to an ancillary work service, the communication must also be sent to Inps and Inail according to the rules already in use for prior communications for the start of occasional ancillary work activities. Notifications must be made prior to the start of each occasional rental activity. Then a copy of the notice, accompanied by receipts of successful transmissions to the offices of the Internal Revenue Service and the Harbour Master’s Office (and if applicable Inps and Inail), as well as a copy of the occasional charter contract, should be kept on board the pleasure craft and made available in case of any inspections.

4. Operating limits and tax issues?
The previous draft legislation stipulated that income from rental activities was subject, at the request of the recipient, “provided that the amount does not exceed 30,000 euros annually,” to a substitute tax on income tax and related surtaxes at the rate of 20 percent. The €30,000.00 limit was repealed by the aforementioned Art. 23 L. 98/2013, which provided, first, a limit of 40 total annual days, and then always a limit of 42 total annual days. The question arises as to what happens if the 42-day limit is exceeded: in that case, one loses the opportunity to take advantage of the 20 percent substitute tax. This interpretation has also found support in the position taken by the Internal Revenue Service, which in the implementing decree of December 13, 2013, considered the 42-day annual limit not to be a constituent element of the case, but simply that limit above which the person loses the mentioned tax benefit (so-called “dry coupon” at 20 percent). In order to enable the payment, by means of the F24 form, of the substitute tax in question, the following tax code was established: “1847” named “Substitute tax of income tax and related surcharges on income from occasional rental activity – Art. 49-bis of Legislative Decree No. 171/2005.”

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