State vs. Italian ports, the battle begins again. Here’s what boaters risk

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motor boats marina blu rimini
The Internal Revenue Service has effectively ignored the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the Regional Administrative Tribunal, handing Rimini’s Marina Blu a 1.1 million euro file, blocking all current accounts and consequently the Adriatic port’s operations. This is a request increased amounts up to 380% of the initially agreed concession fee.The coasts are part of the state property. The Municipality of Rimini-and consequently the state-which owns the property, continues to refuse any request to initiate proceedings to recalculate the fees in light of the “constitutionally oriented” interpretation of the regulations. But let’s start from the beginning.

Let’s be clear

There has long been a war between the Italian state and the peninsula’s marinas, with the ports initially coming out on top. What are the causes of contention? Essentially the state fees-that 1.1 million demanded from the Port of Rimini-that the companies that manage the ports must pay to the state, through the municipalities, the actual owners of the coasts. The problem is that these “fees” since 2007 had skyrocketed to as much as three times the agreed-upon figures. The marinas had therefore decided to protect their jobs by engaging in a legal battle that ended in early March 2018: the Regional Administrative Court of Tuscany had ruled in favor of the appeals filed by Marina Cala de’ Medici against the Municipality of Rosignano, which had demanded huge increases in the state fee, unilaterally raising prices. This ruling, marking a precedent with a rather clear line of interpretation, was destined to become case law by suggesting the way forward for future litigation. But as the Rimini case has shown us, this is not the case.

And what do boaters risk?

Boaters are at great risk in this dispute, because the port companies would be asking them for the money as customers of the port itself. In Rimini, 662 berth owners are in danger of “losing” their berths. The fault lies in the Internal Revenue Service’s demand for an exorbitant amount from the state. The bill is very steep with figures retroactively increased up to four times more than the established state fees. Yet the ruling of the CC (Constitutional Court) speaks quite clearly:“…the new state fees turn out to be applicable only to works that already belong to the State, while for concessions of works carried out by the concessionaire, this can only take place at the end of the concession, and not already during the course of the concession.” The outcome of the substantive hearing on the suspension of the tax bills at the Rimini District Court was also not awaited. Thus, the battle between the Italian state and marinas begins again.

 

 

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