Is there still a tax on alcohol in Spanish ports?

I remember the last time we sailed in the Med there was an extra charge on every drink on board while in any Spanish port. Is this still the case? Does it affect drinks packages if it does?

Its VAT added for intra-EU cruises that start from a Spanish port. All cruise, not just in port.

Doesnt affect either free or purchased drinks packages, whether bought thru NCL UK or USA.

Its VAT added for intra-EU cruises that start from a Spanish port. All cruise, not just in port.

 

Doesnt affect either free or purchased drinks packages, whether bought thru NCL UK or USA.

Are you sure Froggit? NCL UK told me that VAT would be applied to purchased packages but was included in the UBP given with the Free at Sea deal.

Just wondering which is the correct version.

Just got off spirit, and yes we had to pay additional 10% on drinks when in Spanish waters, and yes we had UBP.

I dont think NCL UK add VAT to any items bought in advance, at least they dont break out the VAT, e.g. an internet package costs the cost it shows in MyNCL, theres no 20% added on. Never bought the booze package but I would think its the same.

Whether they are doing it correctly....who knows.

Just got off spirit, and yes we had to pay additional 10% on drinks when in Spanish waters, and yes we had UBP.

But the cost of your drinks was nothing, so even if they added 10%, its still nothing.:confused::confused::confused:

But the cost of your drinks was nothing, so even if they added 10%, its still nothing.:confused::confused::confused:

The way it was explained to me by the NCL rep was, that they charge the VAT to your onboard account based on the value of the drink, had you paid for it. So, order a $15 drink, and assuming VAT was 10%, your onboard account would show a charge of $1.50.

Unless this is a new policy, I've never heard of this happening before.

We sailed out of Southampton a little over a year ago and were subject to VAT

Unless this is a new policy, I've never heard of this happening before.

It is not a new policy, which is why I asked if it was still in place.

Ive sailed from EU country and been charged VAT on cash drinks while in that country's waters, but never been charged VAT when getting drinks while in that country's waters when I have the UBP package.

It´s not just alcohol but all services including internet packages, specialty restaurants and more.

And yes, NCL is the only cruise line which charges VAT (or the US state tax) even on prepaid beverage packages. RCI/X don´t do this.

steamboats

This thread seems to have got a little confused.

I may have misinterpreted the OPs exact question, but I will have a go.

Disregarding the UBP for a second, yes a 10% tax charge is still applied to drinks purchases when in the Spanish port (is Barcelona).

On some cruises this charge is in place for the whole of the cruise. There are specific circumstances that cause this. It isn't if the cruise starts in Spain, but if it never leaves the EU VAT zone. Someone will probably come along to muddy the waters by pointing out that I got the term slightly wrong, but the practical point is that if it is a cruise like the Epic Western Med round trip to Spain, France and Italy then it will be charged all cruise. If you go to Morocco or some other places (Turkey was handy for this when they went there) then you are leaving the VAT zone so that tax is only chargeable when in port.

As for the UBP. This has changed a little over time. If you purchase it in advance or get it as a promo then no tax is charged when you buy it (in the U.K. anyway).

There was a time when you were then charged the 10% tax. Barge on the value of the drinks consumed. However, that wasn't the case last year. For example we had the promo UBP on the Epic in May and paid no tax.

There was an issue late last year, specifically on the Star as it headed to Asia where people were being charged tax. From memory, it was Peter reported that NCL admitted this was incorrectly done and I believe that refunds were made.

The report above from the Spirit appears to suggest that things may have changed again, or it could be another error.

As you can see, it is messy.

Unless this is a new policy, I've never heard of this happening before.

It certainly did used to happen. I have had account summaries with small tax charges on them for drinks I got in Barcelona using the package.

Here's the thread with the recent discussion, and the statement that NCL sent to poster deniseatnycs:

Drink tax

I also contacted NCL about this, and the response I received was nothing like that. They told me that there was a letter in my cabin explaining that there would be tax charged on all on-board purchases (there was no such letter, and the issue is not on-board purchases), and that they were sincerely sorry that I was incapable of understanding that. :mad:

It's not clear to me if this problem is limited to one-off cruises (like when the Star sailed through the Mediterranean, or the TAs out of Barcelona in October) or if it is also happening on a regular basis on the Spirit and people have simply stopped complaining about it. (The same thing happens in US ports every day, and we almost never hear about it here.)

Ive sailed from EU country and been charged VAT on cash drinks while in that country's waters, but never been charged VAT when getting drinks while in that country's waters when I have the UBP package.

Sorry Froggitt. Looking back at my post, I did not make it clear. As KeithJenner has pointed out, if your are paying for your drinks or if the UBP is either purchased or given as a perk outside of Europe, then you will pay both gratuity and VAT.

However, if the UBP was given as a perk or purchased from either NCL UK or NCL Europe, both the gratuity and VAT are included and you should not be charged again, though it seems from some posts above, it is happening from time to time.

KeithJenner,

There is no VAT charged upon the UBP when buying it online. But - despite where / when you´ve bought it - NCL is charging the 10% VAT on every single drink onboard which you order with the UBP (or without it).

NCL is the only cruise line charging the VAT on drinks ordered with a drink package. All other cruise lines only charge the VAT when you buy a single drink without a package and they add the VAT when buying the package (on the price of the package - even when bought online - at least that´s what RCI is doing).

steamboats

There is no VAT charged upon the UBP when buying it online. But - despite where / when you´ve bought it - NCL is charging the 10% VAT on every single drink onboard which you order with the UBP (or without it).

This is where the confusion really comes in.

NCL were certainly not charging VAT if you had the UBP during most of 2016. We were on the Epic in May and didn't pay any tax on our drinks as all. This was as we were expecting as it was widely reported on these boards that they were no longer charging.

That's why there was such confusion a few months ago when they started charging it on the Star as it travelled through the Med. It still seems to be unclear whether this was an error or not.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Epic restarts the 7 day Western Med routes. At the moment I don't think we can say one way or the other whether the tax will be charged.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens when the Epic restarts the 7 day Western Med routes. At the moment I don't think we can say one way or the other whether the tax will be charged.

It will be interesting to see as NCL appear to be applying the VAT rules correctly and incorrectly at the same time.

Drinks purchased onboard are subject to local VAT of the port of origin on a cruise provided it does not leave the EU for the whole cruise. If you order a drink with the UBP over the $15 you would be liable for the difference and the local applicable VAT

However

Under the TOMS regulations(Tour Operators Margin Scheme) set up by the EU to harmonize travel companies across the EU. VAT is due at the point of purchase of the holiday i.e. book in the UK pay VAT in the UK this includes VAT on any gifts. Travel companies can then offset this VAT on a gift against their tax bill in the UK.

The rules do allow for VAT to be charged on a product supplied in Spain or any where in the EU (provided the tour operator is registered there) at the local rate but this still needs to be collected upfront from the customer or offset in case of a gift and cannot be collected a second time at the point of receiving the goods.

A prime example of this is not paying local VAT at the bar in an all inclusive resort in Spain. Can you imagine how much of an uproar there would be if they did, holiday watchdog would be going bananas :eek:

But you would pay VAT in the bar outside the resort.

Its against the rules to charge VAT twice

The VAT rules changed in 2016 to close some loop holes and it seems NCL are playing catch up.

So, if I have read all the answers correctly, as we have the "free" UBP as part of our cruise, we have already paid a tax on it. So NCL should not be charging us any additional tax, irrelevant of where we are sailing. When we start our cruise in Barcelona, I will find out soon enough if they are charging us more tax on our drinks. I will then be able to rectify this at the desk with a major adjustment to my service charges to compensate this....

So, if I have read all the answers correctly, as we have the "free" UBP as part of our cruise, we have already paid a tax on it. So NCL should not be charging us any additional tax, irrelevant of where we are sailing. When we start our cruise in Barcelona, I will find out soon enough if they are charging us more tax on our drinks. I will then be able to rectify this at the desk with a major adjustment to my service charges to compensate this....

That is exactly as it was explained to me by NCL UK. Our cruise is Rome to Rome visiting France and Spain and I was assured that we would not be asked to pay any VAT.

HOWEVER, it does seem from some posts that a few folk have had this charge added to their on board account, but did manage to get it refunded. I will be keeping a very close eye on my account that's for sure.

I believe the difference in some people's experiences is due to the departure port. A Barcelona (Spanish) round-trip within the EU would attract VAT on drinks (ignoring UBP issues for the moment). Round-trip within EU from Rome (Italy) does not have VAT on drinks (maybe zero-rated?).

So, if I have read all the answers correctly, as we have the "free" UBP as part of our cruise, we have already paid a tax on it. So NCL should not be charging us any additional tax, irrelevant of where we are sailing. When we start our cruise in Barcelona, I will find out soon enough if they are charging us more tax on our drinks. I will then be able to rectify this at the desk with a major adjustment to my service charges to compensate this....

What tax have you paid on that free UBP?

So, if I have read all the answers correctly, as we have the "free" UBP as part of our cruise, we have already paid a tax on it. So NCL should not be charging us any additional tax, irrelevant of where we are sailing. When we start our cruise in Barcelona, I will find out soon enough if they are charging us more tax on our drinks. I will then be able to rectify this at the desk with a major adjustment to my service charges to compensate this....

It's not that easy I'm afraid.

That was certainly the case for a long while. For example we didn't pay any tax on our cruises during 2016, and there were no problems for quite a while.

However, there were the reports from late last year which suggest that tax was charged on some Star and Spirit cruises. The response to that has been very muddled and some of the reports on here haven't been clear.

If you are charged the tax then you may or may not be able to get it adjusted onboard, but from my understanding of other people's experience I suspect not. I suspect it will be harder than that.

That is exactly as it was explained to me by NCL UK. Our cruise is Rome to Rome visiting France and Spain and I was assured that we would not be asked to pay any VAT.