Inward processing customs arrangement (TPA in Spanish) allows non-EU goods imported within the EU to be processed for re-export without a requirement to pay customs duty and VAT on the goods being used.

This custom mechanism is extremely used in the yachting industry allowing non-european vessels to benefit from VAT savings on repairs during their stay in Spanish shipyards.

Traditionally the discharge of this arrangement required that vessels after conclusion of the maintenance works were formally exported by means of arriving outside of the EU territory.

Recently Spanish Customs have adopted a more relaxed approach on this requirement, based on the provisions of the 2016 Union Customs Code.

With the new interpretation there are two possible alternatives to discharge the regime:

The traditional opting, consisting in exporting the vessels to a non-EU country.

A new possibility consists in existing the EU customs territorial waters, by sailing further than 12 nautical miles, in which case the yacht can opt by returning to the departure part or for instance cruise to another part with customs area status.

Tax Marine Spain is a boutique consultancy firm specialized in customs and tax advisory to the superyacht industry with more than 20 year experience in the industry. Feel free to contact us so we can provide guidance on the appropriate steps to follow to optimize the fiscal treatment on your vessel