One of the less fun sides of buying a boat abroad: the paperwork. So. Much. Paperwork. And while we’re EU citizens who bought a EU (French) flagged boat in the EU, the different countries each have their own laws, rules and regulations. So there are plenty of hoops to jump through, and a few clashing demands to deal with. And just when you think you’re done … there’s local paperwork and taxes, and the Greek Cruising Tax known as Tepai.

Who has to pay Tepai?

If your keel will be moving in Greek waters for even a few hours, you’ll have to pay the Greek Cruising Tax known as Tepai. All owners of recreational vessels, regardless of whether they are Greek residents or foreign visitors, are required to pay TEPAI if they plan to sail or dock their boat in Greece.

There are only two exceptions: your boat is under 7 meters (22.96 ft) in lenght and/or your boat is out of the water, on the hard (for which you’ll need proof. You can also take your boat ‘out of commission’, for instance when wintering in the water while you’re away, for which you’ll have to hand over your registration papers to the local coast guard).

For those that doubt anyone will ever ask them for their proof of payment: it’s fairly common for marinas to ask for proof of payment before allowing you to dock. So make sure you have it sorted out and you have your proof of payment with you before you enter Greek waters or splash your boat.

How much is Tepai?

First of all: you pay per full month, no matter how many days in that month you’ll be in Greek waters. So it doesn’t matter if you arrive on the 1st or 30th of June, or anywhere in between: you have to pay for the full month.
We’re splashing Nalu around September 20 and will go back on the hard around October 17, so we have to pay two full months – September and October. These are the costs per month:

The jump from max. 12 meter to over 12 meter is pretty high: at 12.00 meter length, you pay €33 per month. At 12.01 meter and up, you pay a minimum of €96.08 per month.

In our case, with a total length of 15.95 meter and having to pay for two months, the total is €255.20. When we sail her home, we’ll try our best to leave Greek waters the same month we splash, to avoid having to pay for two months.

How To Calculate & Pay Your Tepai

The Greek Cruising Tax or Tepai falls under the responisbility of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE). You’ll need to register and fill out the form on their website. Here’s how (and you’ll want to do this on a desktop or laptop if at all possible):

First of all, do yourself a favor and read the FAQ befor you start: https://www.aade.gr/dl_assets/etepai/etepai_faqs_en.pdf

Next, you’ll need to register for an account. Go to https://www1.aade.gr/aadeapps2/etepai/. The page will likely open in the Greek language, but you can click the English flag in the top right corner. Click on the little blue button that says ‘Register’. The registration form will pop up. Make sure to have your passport ready, as you’ll need it. Fill out the form and hit the green button that says ‘Register’. Next, go to your email account and click on the activation link in the confirmation email you’ll receive within seconds.

For the next part, have the manual open in a seperate tab: https://www.aade.gr/dl_assets/etepai/etepai_app_usermanual_en.pdf

Now, go back to the start page at https://www1.aade.gr/aadeapps2/etepai/ and click the big blue button that says ‘Log in for eTAPAI users’. Log in and follow the steps set out in the manual. When you’ve done that correctly, you’ll receive another email (in both Greek and English, just scroll down) with two attachments. Now, all you have to do is take care of the payment. Sadly, there’s no information on how to pay in the manual or in the email you’ll receive …

Open the FAQ again and scroll down to 10.6: How can I pay the TEPAI from abroad? If you’re in a SEPA country like us, you can use the IBAN that’s listed in the FAQ and use AADE as the recipients name. The code they want is listed on your form as the 20-digit “Administrative Fee Code” and NOT the ‘Tepai Payment Code’.

In the FAQ, this is described as “Remittance information: the 20 numbers (no letters, punctuation or spaces) of TEPAI payment code”. If you use the wrong code, or add anything (like a period or space), your payment will be refused and you’ll have to try again with the correct code. (Ask us how we know …)

If all goes well, your payment status will update from ‘ΝΕΟ/NEW’ to ‘ΠΛΗΡΩΜΕΝΟ/PAID’. In our case, the status update was processed by the end of the next business day. You can check this by logging into your account, wait a few seconds and scroll down to your request. Use the ‘Print’ button to print your proof of payment.