Cruisers who keep their boats in Croatia are facing an enormous tax increase , which could amount to more than 400%. Following new regulations brought out by the Croatian government, it is feared hundreds, if not thousands of boat owners, will leave Croatia rather than pay the increase. Money from the new tax is to be used for tourist projects with no bearing on sailing infrastructure. There are reports that some marina are enabling cruisers to pay for a year in advance which is implemented at the old rate. Boat owners in Croatia are urged to look into the new rates urgently. Changes to regulations in Greece and Turkey in recent years also caused boat owners to move elsewhere.

The so-called sojourn tax was reported in the Official Gazette of the Croatian Republic last month and lists the following scale of payments:
[ul][li]Boats between 9 and 12 metres:[ul][li]up to 8 days – Kn400[/li][li]15 days - Kn700[/li][li]30 days - Kn1,200[/li][li]90 days - Kn2,900[/li][li]up to one year Kn5,800[/li][/ul][/li][li]For boats between 12 and 15 metres:[ul][li]up to 8 days – Kn500[/li][li]15 days - Kn 950[/li][li]30 days - Kn1,600[/li][li]90 days - Kn3,850[/li][li]up to one year - Kn7,700[/li][/ul][/li][/ul]One Croatian kuna is worth 12p. Read more here.
edited by DariaBlackwell on 10/11/2017

Vice Commodore, OCC