The Provincial Tax Commission of Livorno has issued a judgment that finally clarifies the application of this tax, incorrectly applied to the berths of marinas.
The general principles for the determination and application of TARI tax are contained in Article 238 of Legislative Decree 152/2006. In particular, it prescribes that the tariff for waste disposal is commensurate to the average average quantity and quality of waste produced per unit area, in relation to the uses and the type of activities carried out.
In the maritime state domain, and specifically in tourism and marine ports in Tuscany, the application of TARI tax has been the subject of numerous disputes, as many local authorities have applied the concept of “per unit of surface area” in their regulations, thus extending the request of contribution also to water bodies.
Applying, therefore, TARIFF x SURFACE = TAX DUE
It is easy to understand that applying a tariff to a water surface, which by its very nature has a high surface extension. has generated very high requests for payment to dealers and managers of marinas, who have been forced to push these costs onto users, with increasingly expensive tariffs for mooring.
Indeed, the public authorities have always made mistakes in applying their own TARI tax regulation to tourist ports as well, because they do not have rights in this regard, in other words they are not allowed to charge it.
With Law no. 25/1998 (amended by Law No. 61/2014) the Tuscany Region directly regulates how waste management should be governed within marinas:
Article 6 regulates the collection plans for ship-generated waste and cargo residues at the ports the Maritime Authority is responsible for. The marinas are part of this subject matter for which the local maritime authority is competent.
Specifically, the following is governed:
1. In ports where the competent authority is the maritime authority, the provisions of Article 5(1) of Legislative Decree 182/2003 are adopted, in agreement with the Region, by order which, pursuant to Article 5(4), of the above-mentioned Legislative Decree 182/2003, constitutes a plan for collecting ship-generated waste and cargo residues. The agreement is approved by resolution of the Regional Council. (ships also means pleasure craft);
2. Within sixty days of their transmission, the ordinances are implemented by the Region, for the management aspects, with the provisions contained in the regional waste management plan.
3. Making use of the authority for an integrated urban waste management service, the Region, whose scope includes the territory within the competence of the maritime authority or the prevailing part of the same, manages, in agreement with the maritime authority, the procedures relating to the assignment of the service for the management of ship-generated waste and cargo residues.
To make it easier to understand, the above-mentioned rule prescribes that for the areas of the maritime authority is responsible for, the waste generated by ships and pleasure craft, and therefore boats, must be managed and then disposed of according to an autonomous regulation and, therefore, concessionaires of marinas are exempt from paying TARI tax.
In respect of the specific regulations, it is necessary to take into account that tourism ports usually independently manage the collection of waste with their own personnel and resources. Furthermore, the collected waste is sent to storage areas and then treated and disposed of according to the quantification of the weight actually produced and not based on the surface area occupied.
Let’s therefore move on to a different calculation:
COST OF DISPOSAL x QUANTITY PRODUCED = COSTS INCURRED
Judgment no. 460 of 22 November 2017, issued by the Tax Commission, following the appeal presented by lawyer Flavia Pozzolini, representing the tourist port of Rosignano Marittimo Marina Cala de’ Medici, accepted all the pleas presented by lawyer Rodolfo Barsi. Given the necessary premises, the judgment lays the foundation for the acceptance of Order no. 103 of 2009 issued by the Port Authority of Livorno concerning the Waste collection and management plan in the area it is responsible for, including the Cala de’ Medici marina.
This judgment, together with the Order issued by the TAR of Tuscany 1176/2017 published on 9 October 2017, lays the groundwork for a definitive clarification of the “condominium” cost of the moorings in Tuscany. As I have always said, certainty regarding the annual costs of a berth will be the key element for the revival of the port, reactivating the market for the sale of berths and, with it, also the nautical industry for the domestic market.
The last document issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport identified158,088 moorings located along the 7,456 km long Italian peninsula. Sardinia has the longest coast, but with its 18,770 berths, Tuscany is second only to Liguria.
Note that the dossier shows that there is a great lack of moorings suitable for hosting boats and ships over 24 metres long in Tuscany. In Tuscany there are only 413 berths for this size boat, compared to 1,375 in Liguria.
Nautica Italiana, an association that represents the most important Italian shipyards, hopes that the evaluation of the next Master Plan of the ports and the Structural Plan will give the right level of importance to this segment of the market, for which the Tuscany Region hosts a large part of the Italian shipyards that are global leaders, with 40% of global orders.
The Federagenti Yacht Section has estimated the presence of approximately 8,000 annual landings of maxi yachts in Italy, with a very strong impact on the territory in financial terms and in terms of employment. Suffice to say that a single 40-metre-long yacht generates an annual cost of not less than 2 million Euros and creates direct employment on board of 10/12 people and indirectly of over 50.