The benefits of chartering your yacht
If you own a yacht, no matter how much you may think you will use it ‘all the time’, life gets in the way, and sometimes there will be chunks of time you cannot get to use it - so, why not let someone else?
Simply put, when your boat is sitting in a marina, it costs you money. Not only can chartering out your yacht enables you to write off taxes and cut other costs, but there are also other advantages to doing so.
Tax-write off
While there are some taxes you need to pay, there are also tax deductions that can save you huge amounts on your taxes. If you charter out your yacht at least 50% of the time, you can gain substantial tax deductions as it is a legitimate business purpose. Within this 50% of chartering time, you can also deduct business expenses from your taxes, for example, some expenses such as crew salaries, marina berth, fuel, maintenance, etc.
Offsetting costs
Although yachts aren’t known for being the best investment if you own one, there are certain advantages you can take when it comes to offsetting some of the costs. Chartering can help offset some of the ownership costs. Depending on how many weeks you charter it out for, it can cover a portion of your operating expenses such as marina berthings, insurance, maintenance fees, and crew costs. In the US, if you charter out your yacht in the first year of purchase you may be able to write off some expenses and receive tax benefits.
Light exercise
Like humans, yachts also benefit from a little exercise! When a yacht is being used regularly, it benefits from the additional cleaning and maintenance that is carried out before clients use it, which will help prevent longer-term issues building up onboard. Regular usage means that things won’t sit dormant for a long time. As well as running the yacht’s systems, it will also help maintain your crew’s skills; with regular client trips, the crew will be able to take advantage of working onboard a charter yacht while you can later reap the benefits on your trips.
Think outside the box
While you may love everything about your yacht, there maybe things to improve that you haven’t noticed before. It is great to have fresh perspectives and eyes onboard regularly, as clients may pick up on things to improve your yacht experience.
Build your brand
The charter market is booming, so there is competition out there when choosing a yacht to charter. Make sure you highlight why clients should choose yours over others, and have a reputable and knowledgeable broker onboard to help you with this. Once the yacht has a brand and builds up a loyal charter following with successful charter history, this can add huge opportunities and support to the resale value.
Sharing is caring
There are a few ways in which being part of the sharing economy can be hugely beneficial to yourself and the client. Chartering out your yacht opens up the accessibility to the yachting industry and therefore adds to potential pool of clients for the future.
If you are a yacht owner or soon-to-be and would love to reap some of these charter market benefits, then shoot me a DM to chat more about how I can help you.
