2023-08-10 18:08:52
Canton of Friborg
“Habitable boats”: citizens refuse a new tax
Owners whose boat is moored outside their municipality of residence must pay a fixed tax. Boaters denounce an “unjust measure to make money”.
par
Abdoulaye Penda Ndiaye
PostedAugust 10, 2023, 8:08 PM
This boat is a habitable boat, according to the Friborg authorities. The owner must therefore pay 180 fr per year.
DR
Tired of the fight, Urs* finally gave in. After several exchanges of mail with the central collection of the tourist tax, this pensioner ended up paying 180 fr. because he owns a “habitable boat”. According to the new Tourism Law, voted by the Friborg Grand Council and which entered into force this year, “any boat equipped with berths for at least two people is considered a habitable boat”.
Out of the question!
People who have their boat moored in the municipality where they live are exempt from the tax, which is not the case for Urs. “I live five minutes by car from the port of Estavayer-le-Lac, where my boat is moored. My boat is without WC, water or kitchen. This law is an iniquitous measure which aims just to make money, ”he denounces, contesting that one can “live” in his boat.
Gustave refuses to pay. After having received the invoice (a flat rate of sixty nights per year at the rate of 3 francs per night), the pensioner maintained his opposition. “There is no question of letting this legalized scam pass. I am ready to go to the Federal Court, ”he thunders. “Boat owners are not money pumps. I threw my bill in the trash. If I receive a callback, it will be the same,” announces Jules*, a 50-year-old from Fribourg.
Exemption for premises
Freiburg has chosen a strict path. Because the federal ordinance on this subject is less restrictive: are considered as “habitable” only “boats equipped to live permanently on board, which are inhabited and which remain in the same place for more than two consecutive months”. The Friborg Tourism Union (UFT), which collects the tax, specifies that those who can demonstrate that their boat is not habitable can contact them and have their invoice canceled.
However, she sticks to her definition, recalling that toilets and showers are found in all ports. In addition, among the cases already brought to justice, the habitability of a boat has been compared with that of a small tent, which also does not have sanitary facilities. “This legal definition, admittedly broad, is neither arbitrary nor indefensible”, reacts the vice-president of the UFT Christian Monney.
In the canton, there are some 1,100 habitable boats out of a total of 5,600 boats, the majority intended for leisure.
*Assumed names
In French-speaking Switzerland, this type of taxation for houseboats is specific to Fribourg. The other cantons apply different types of taxes for boats, depending on their dimensions or even their sustainability ecologically. In France, there is also a law to tax habitable boats. The hoteliers had denounced the unfair competition of boats rented regularly by their owners to third parties. The owners of sailing or motor boats must pay the private occupation fee for the public domain, but also the property tax on built properties. But a jurisprudence of 2021 specifies that if it is not fixed to the quay in perpetuity, a house barge is considered to be… mobile and therefore not subject to the taxation of real estate.
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