Today co-navigation is subject to the same legal requirements as car sharing.
Co-navigation is specific to sailing in France.
It means that you as a private boat owner and the participants of the co-navigation will solely share the consumables and expenses incurred by the outing on a pleasure boat, i.e. the fuel, mooring, food, and drinks.
It is therefore not allowed for a private owner to rent your boat for profit.
Additionally, this cost-sharing activity does not constitute a profit-making activity. Therefore it is not a professional activity giving rise to social security contributions and the amounts received do not have to be declared to the Administration.
According to the French website Légiplaisance, an association whose purpose is to "relay information on maritime regulations":
- Co-navigation can only be an activity that consists of the common and organized use of a boat or vessel for personal use, by a non-professional boater and one or more third-party passengers, with the aim of making a common journey and which provides individual benefits (saving fuel and maintenance expenses, making trips more enjoyable, developing social ties) and collective benefits ;
- The amount collected must cover only the costs incurred in connection with the service rendered, i.e. fuel, food, and docking costs. All costs not directly attributable to the service in question are excluded, in particular, costs related to the acquisition, maintenance, or personal use of the asset(s), which are the basis of the shared service;
- The shared costs must not include the share of the person offering the service. The latter shall personally bear his or her own share of the costs and shall not receive any form of remuneration, direct or indirect, for the service rendered and from which he or she benefits at the same time;
- If the income realized exceeds the amount of the cost-sharing, it is taxable at the first euro.
- The expenses received in this context are therefore not taxable and do not have to be declared.
