11.3.1.1 Scope of application
The following may benefit from this special regime:
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Entities registered in any of the shipping company registries referred to in Royal Legislative Decree 2/2011, of 5 September, approving the Revised Text of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Navy, whose activity includes the operation of own or leased vessels.
Natural persons resident in Spain or countries of the European Union will be entitled to obtain the registration and flag of civil vessels, provided that, in the latter case, they appoint a representative in Spain.
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Entities that carry out, in their entirety, the technical and crew management of vessels included in the special regime. For these purposes, technical and crew management is understood as the assumption of full responsibility for the nautical operation of the vessel, as well as all the duties and responsibilities imposed by the International Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and the Prevention of Pollution adopted by the International Maritime Organization through Resolution A741.
Vessels whose operation enables the application of the regime must meet the following requirements:
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Be strategically and commercially managed from Spain or from the rest of the European Union. For these purposes, strategic and commercial management is understood as the assumption by the owner of the vessel or by the lessee of the control and risk of the activity of maritime navigation or work at sea.
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Be suitable for maritime navigation and be intended exclusively for the transport of goods, passengers, rescue and other services necessarily provided at sea, without prejudice to the provisions of letter c) below.
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In the case of vessels used for towing activities, less than 50% of the income for the tax period must come from activities carried out in ports and from providing assistance to a self-propelled vessel to reach port. In the case of vessels engaged in dredging activities, it will be necessary for more than 50% of the income for the tax period to come from the activity of transporting and storing extracted materials on the seabed, with this regime exclusively applying to this part of its activity.
With respect to entities that transfer the use of these vessels, this requirement will be deemed to be met when they prove that the income of the entity that carries out the towing or dredging activity meets those percentages in each of the tax periods in which this regime is applicable to those entities.
Vessels used for towing and dredging activities must be registered in Spain or in another member state of the European Union or the European Economic Area.
Where the regime is applicable to taxpayers with vessels not registered in Spain or in another Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area, the increase in the percentage of the net tonnage of such vessels in relation to the total fleet of the entity covered by the special regime, whatever the cause, shall not prevent the application of said regime provided that the average percentage of the net tonnage of vessels registered in Spain or in another Member State of the European Union in relation to the total net tonnage for the year prior to the time in which said increase occurs is maintained for the period of the three following years.
This condition shall not apply when the percentage of net tonnage of vessels registered in Spain or in another Member State of the European Union is at least 60 percent.
This regime may not be applied when all the vessels are not registered in Spain or in another Member State of the European Union. Vessels intended, directly or indirectly, for fishing or sporting activities, or recreational vessels, may not be covered by this regime.
This regime will not apply during tax periods in which the following circumstances occur simultaneously:
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That the entity has the status of a medium or large company in accordance with the provisions of Recommendation 2003/361/EC of the European Commission.
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Those who receive State restructuring aid granted under the provisions of European Commission Communication 2004/C244/02.
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That the European Commission had not taken into account the tax benefits arising from the application of this regime when taking the decision on restructuring aid.
For administrative authorisations granted between 30 April 2007 and 29 June 2011, the tax regime for shipping entities based on tonnage will not apply to economic interest groupings to the extent that it constitutes incompatible State aid under the terms set out in the European Commission Decision of 17 June 2013 on the tax regime applicable to certain financial leasing agreements, as established in the thirtieth transitional provision of the LIS .