The Maltese segment of a recent pan-European Union crackdown on the VAT positions of super yachts has yielded two infringements, The Malta Independent on Sunday is informed.

As a result of an EU-wide investigation in the Maltese segment, two super yachts were found to have infringed Maltese VAT legislation, leading the VAT Division to take action to recover additional taxes due to the government.

The amount of taxes due to be recovered by the government following the exercise was not disclosed.

The Maltese VAT Department had participated in a multi-lateral control exercise led by the Dutch and French tax authorities, which had netted a number of such yachts having committed tax fraud.

It was found that in one of the schemes employed, a number of superyacht owners had registered their vessels as commercial rather than private vessels, rendering them liable for greatly reduced VAT rates, and in turn “chartering” their own vessels at heavily deflated prices from companies set up to facilitate the scheme.

Others, meanwhile, attempted to find and exploit loopholes between different EU member State legislations and the legislations of third countries in the delivery of yachts.

The total value of yachts investigated across the EU amounted to over e1 billion, according to figures published by the Dutch finance ministry. The Dutch tax authorities are to recoup over e31 million from additional VAT assessments following the exercise.

The owners and companies involved in some 300 super yachts across 11 EU member States have been found to be in violation of the countries’ VAT legislation.

The EU-wide exercise involved the tax authorities of Malta, Holland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Spain, England and Portugal and the whole operating chain from yacht builders to dealers and intermediaries was investigated.

And more similar exercises are envisaged in the future, according to Dutch Finance Minister Jan Cornelis de Jager, who this week commented, “The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration has played a leading role and achieved good results with the investigation. Therefore I will soon discuss with my European colleagues setting up other projects for the prevention of tax dodging.”

While the abuse uncovered in Malta appears to be rather small, with just two infringements found, EU-wide investigations are set to continue. To this end, the Dutch finance ministry expects the international network of tax specialists set up for the exercise, involving some 150 experts from tax authorities from member States involved in the crackdown, “will be maintained”, adding that “new international supervision actions are being planned”.