Yachting Art Magazine

Parliamentary amendment No. 1-2259, tabled on 18 October by MPs from the far-left LFI party as part of the 2025 finance bill, proposes to increase VAT to 33% on pleasure boats, which are considered luxury goods. Presented in the name of tax justice, this measure would in fact destroy Europe's leading boating market, leading to massive job losses and a historic contraction in activity on the French coast.

The amendment in question, supported by MPs from the La France Insoumise – Nouveau Front Populaire group, provides for a VAT rate increased to 33% on a range of so-called ‘luxury’ goods: high-end cars, cosmetics, watches, spirits, luxury clothing... but also yachts, sailing boats and motorboats with more than 20 horsepower.

The stated objective is to finance... public broadcasting – we're joking – whose licence fee, which will be abolished in 2023, brought in €3.7 billion per year. The authors claim to be advocating ‘fairer taxation’, whereby luxury goods would contribute more to the collective effort.

But applying this logic to the recreational boating sector is based on a huge economic misinterpretation, as economics is not the subject best understood by this group of individuals.

VAT is not a progressive tax: it affects all consumers equally, regardless of income. Raising the rate to 33% would therefore amount to taxing in the same way a yachtsman buying a second-hand sailboat for €25,000 and a yacht owner worth several million. This is not fiscal justice; it is punitive taxation that ignores the social and economic reality of an industrial and popular sector, with the majority of pleasure boats less than 8 metres long...

The French recreational boating market, the largest in Europe, is based on a solid productive ecosystem: shipyards, which are major exporters, drawing their momentum from a powerful hinterland made up of engine manufacturers, sailmakers, subcontractors, equipment manufacturers, dealers, refit yards, marinas, charter companies and sailing schools. Together, they generate nearly €5 billion in turnover and more than 50,000 direct and indirect jobs, concentrated in coastal regions.

33% VAT on pleasure craft - how to destroy an industrial sector overnight

This VAT would apply to all sales delivered in France, regardless of the origin of the boat. Its main effect would be brutal and immediate, in a context where the economic situation is already poor: an immediate destruction of domestic demand, which means, in simple terms for a Member of Parliament who knows nothing about economics, a halt in sales and bankruptcies of shipyards, and therefore unemployment.

French buyers would postpone or relocate their purchases, resort more to renting abroad, keep their boats longer or switch to the non-renovated second-hand market. The new boat market would collapse, dragging the entire chain of activity down with it.

The impact on employment would be massive, at a time when some of the sector's major manufacturers are already suffering from technical unemployment due to an already sluggish economy!

Fewer new sales would mean less maintenance, repairs, spare parts, rentals and stopovers. Marinas and small boating businesses would be directly affected, as would the hotel, restaurant and coastal tourism industries, which are heavily dependent on this maritime economy.

Finally, the expected tax revenue could backfire on the State: such an increase would automatically cause volumes to fall, reducing the tax base. With consumers circumventing the measure by registering or purchasing abroad, France would lose both jobs and tax revenue, for an illusory budgetary gain.

To equate recreational boating with luxury is to misunderstand the nature of this industry: an industrial export pillar, rooted in the regions and a bearer of French know-how.

Under the guise of fairness, this proposal would be more a matter of social revenge than a coherent economic policy, as usual...

In reality, a 33% VAT on recreational boating would only stifle a dynamic sector, deprive thousands of workers of their jobs (privileged ones, according to LFI MPs?) and permanently weaken a French industrial flagship.

It is distressing to see that some elected representatives are completely unaware of the potential economic consequences of their political posturing in the National Assembly...

Let's reassure ourselves: this measure is very unlikely to come into force, thanks to Europe: the European Union strictly regulates VAT rates and for a country to set a VAT rate above the maximum rate of 25%, it would need to obtain the agreement of all its partners. Thank you, Europe!

Demagoguery, when you've got us...

In the meantime, gone are the days when Eric Cocquerel, LFI chairman of the National Assembly's finance committee and co-founder of the Effets Mer agency, made a comfortable living from sailing, handling press relations for the Vendée Globe, famous skippers and the Grand Pavois, a passion that led him to buy a beautiful 41.83-foot (12.75 m) French sailing boat, benefiting from 20% VAT...

The list of MPs supporting this project:

A list that should be of interest to all employees in the nautical industry, whose jobs are currently at stake due to their project aimed at financing public broadcasting, let us remember....

M. Aurélien Le Coq Mme Nadège Abomangoli  M. Laurent Alexandre  M. Gabriel Amard  Mme Ségolène Amiot  Mme Farida Amrani  M. Rodrigo Arenas  M. Raphaël Arnault  Mme Anaïs Belouassa-Cherifi  M. Ugo Bernalicis  M. Christophe Bex  M. Carlos Martens Bilongo  M. Manuel Bompard  M. Idir Boumertit  M. Louis Boyard  M. Pierre-Yves Cadalen  M. Sylvain Carrière  Mme Gabrielle Cathala  M. Bérenger Cernon  Mme Sophia Chikirou  M. Hadrien Clouet  M. Éric Coquerel  M. Jean-François Coulomme  M. Sébastien Delogu  M. Aly Diouara  Mme Alma Dufour  Mme Karen Erodi  Mme Mathilde Feld  M. Emmanuel Fernandes  Mme Sylvie Ferrer  M. Perceval Gaillard  Mme Clémence Guetté  M. David Guiraud  Mme Zahia Hamdane  Mme Mathilde Hignet  M. Andy Kerbrat  M. Bastien Lachaud  M. Abdelkader Lahmar  M. Maxime Laisney  M. Arnaud Le Gall  Mme Élise Leboucher  M. Jérôme Legavre  Mme Sarah Legrain  Mme Claire Lejeune  Mme Murielle Lepvraud  M. Antoine Léaument  Mme Élisa Martin  M. Damien Maudet  Mme Marianne Maximi  Mme Marie Mesmeur  Mme Manon Meunier  M. Jean-Philippe Nilor  Mme Sandrine Nosbé  Mme Danièle Obono  Mme Nathalie Oziol  Mme Mathilde Panot  M. René Pilato  M. François Piquemal  M. Thomas Portes  M. Loïc Prud'homme  M. Jean-Hugues Ratenon  M. Arnaud Saint-Martin  M. Aurélien Saintoul  Mme Ersilia Soudais  Mme Anne Stambach-Terrenoir  M. Aurélien Taché  Mme Andrée Taurinya  M. Matthias Tavel  Mme Aurélie Trouvé  M. Paul Vannie

Products affected by the far-left amendment:

‘Art. 279 ter. – The increased rate of value added tax would be set at 33% for:

’a) Tableware products;

"b) Luxury cars and private jets;

‘c) Luxury cosmetics and perfumes;

’d) Luxury clothing and leather goods;

‘e) Luxury watches, jewellery and silverware;

’f) Works of art and art furniture;

‘g) Gold bullion;

’h) Caviar;

‘i) Luxury spirits and alcohols;

’j) Luxury hotel services;

‘k) Motorcycles with an engine capacity of more than 450 cm³;

’l) Yachts or pleasure boats with or without auxiliary engines with a minimum international tonnage of three tonnes;

‘m) Pleasure boats with fixed or outboard engines with a real power of at least 20 hp;

’n) Racehorses at least two years old within the meaning of the regulations governing racing;

"o) Saddle horses at least two years old;

p) Memberships in golf clubs and subscriptions paid to use their facilities;

q) Annual membership fees for hunting clubs and clothing and accessories for hunting;

r) Silverware and luxury tableware."