More than 10,000 boat owners and nautical industry professionals have signed a petition demanding the rewriting of a planned reform to France's annual pleasure craft tax, with the Côte d'Azur among the regions most exposed to the changes.
The reform of the TAEMUP, the annual tax on personal maritime vessels, was adopted as part of France's 2026 budget law and is due to come into force on January 1, 2027. The Confédération du Nautisme et de la Plaisance and the Fédération des Industries Nautiques have described it as "unjust, unreadable and penalising" and are calling for it to be rewritten before it takes effect.
Under the current system, boats under seven metres in length are exempt from the tax. The new calculation, based on engine power in kilowatts rather than hull length, would bring many small vessels into the taxable bracket for the first time. Industry representatives say this could impose new annual charges of more than 500 euros on family boat owners, small leisure fishermen and first-time boat buyers, while paradoxically reducing the burden on larger, more expensive vessels with multiple smaller motors.
Guillaume Arnauld des Lions, of the nautical industry federation, told France 3 Régions that the Côte d'Azur has the highest concentration of small motor boats in France, ahead of Brittany, making the region particularly vulnerable to the reform's effects. The nautical sector in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur represents around a quarter of the national industry's workforce and more than twenty percent of its turnover.
The petition, available at plaisancejuste.fr, is expected to reach 20,000 to 25,000 signatures. Industry groups say they remain open to reform but are calling for the government to restart talks before implementation.
Source: France 3 Régions, Bateaux.com, Confédération du Nautisme et de la Plaisance