Schengen entry procedure

Stork_III

Well-known member
Joined
6 Aug 2002
Messages
18,454
Location
Here and There
Visit site
No because your boat will now be treated as EU VAT paid. All you need to do is keep your mooring receipt (and I'd suggest a few dated photos) for 31/13/20.

Your problems arise if you return the boat to the UK after 31/12/21 as you'll have to pay UK VAT if you do.

If returning after 31/12/21, RGR scheme rules will apply, so if exported after 31/12/18 no VAT payable, if before VAT payable.
 
Joined
23 Dec 2014
Messages
52
Visit site
What happens if you now want to buy a 2nd hand boat in the EU and return it to the UK? If it has had VAT paid in the EU would you still have to pay additional UK VAT when you brought it back?

And what about a new boat sourced in the EU, is there a way to only pay one lot of VAT on that?

I can see this narrowing the field for new and / or 2nd hand boat purchases to UK only (or accept that EU boats will all be 25% more expensive!!).
 

Ningaloo

Well-known member
Joined
19 Aug 2001
Messages
913
Location
Northern summers on Primal otherwise Perth WA
yacht-primal.com
What happens if you now want to buy a 2nd hand boat in the EU and return it to the UK? If it has had VAT paid in the EU would you still have to pay additional UK VAT when you brought it back?

And what about a new boat sourced in the EU, is there a way to only pay one lot of VAT on that?

I can see this narrowing the field for new and / or 2nd hand boat purchases to UK only (or accept that EU boats will all be 25% more expensive!!).

If you buy a second hand boat outside the UK (regardless of its local VAT status), you pay UK VAT when you import it.

If you buy a new boat outside the UK you won't pay any import duty or local VAT in the country of manufacture but will pay UK VAT on the purchase.
 

Poignard

Well-known member
Joined
23 Jul 2005
Messages
51,352
Location
London and Brittany
Visit site
No because your boat will now be treated as EU VAT paid. All you need to do is keep your mooring receipt (and I'd suggest a few dated photos) for 31/13/20.

Your problems arise if you return the boat to the UK after 31/12/21 as you'll have to pay UK VAT if you do.
Thank you for that but I wasn't thinking of VAT implications but of the long-established practice of 'entering' and 'clearing' at a designated port of entry which a vessel visiting a foreign country has to follow. Something that vessels were required to do before VAT was invented and which is presumably now a requirement for British-registered yachts visiting EU Member States.
 

Ningaloo

Well-known member
Joined
19 Aug 2001
Messages
913
Location
Northern summers on Primal otherwise Perth WA
yacht-primal.com
If the boat is due to be exported outside the EU (and you can prove it), you shouldn't have to pay any VAT in the EU.
At least, that's how it is for cars (new cars - first owner).
But if VAT has been paid (when buying second hand) you can't claim it back.
As I said before, local/EU VAT won't be paid on a boat being built for export to UK and the dealer should handle the payment of UK VAT on behalf of the owner..
 

westhinder

Well-known member
Joined
15 Feb 2003
Messages
2,471
Location
Belgium
Visit site
I have received some clarifications from the Belgian border police. They did not address all my questions, so I have no doubt this will not be the end of it. But at least this is now clear:
- Yachts arriving from the U.K. have to fill in the online form, upon arrival they have to contact the border police, preferably by telephone (numbers on their website) to make an appointment for the police to visit the boat and stamp passports. You will also be asked to prove that you have the means of subsistence for the duration of your stay (95€/day), either in cash, cheques or credit card
- the same procedure when leaving
- when you continue to or arrive from another Schengen country there are no formalities.
- if a crewmember will leave by another means of transport or extra crew will arrive, you have to tell the officer when they visit the boat
Questions about details of the online form were not answered. I take it you fill it in to the best of your abilities and any outstanding matters will be dealt with when they come round to the boat. Port of origin, in my opinion, is a poor translation for homeport, as Belgian yachts are required to state that on the transom, under the name of the boat.
If I find out anything more, I will post an update.
 

Ningaloo

Well-known member
Joined
19 Aug 2001
Messages
913
Location
Northern summers on Primal otherwise Perth WA
yacht-primal.com
Thanks westhinder. That is all pretty much as expected. It's going to make a weekend trip rather frustrating hanging around for the customs officials after arrival and before departure.
Did they mention anything about TA for the vessel's VAT status?
My instinct is that the officials may not be too happy to have this extra work imposed on them which may not help in expediting things.
I thought the "welcome to Brexit" remark quoted by a Dutch official confiscating ham and cheese sandwiches from the truck drivers was telling. They are as frustrated about this as we are!
The ETIAS database has now been postponed to late 2022, but once this is up and running it may mean that ink stamps in the passport are no longer required which may help.
 

Dan Tribe

Well-known member
Joined
3 Jun 2017
Messages
1,264
Visit site
The news about truckers sandwiches being confiscated is a bit worrying. Does this mean that yachts will have to dump food on arrival?
I hope it will all settle down to a sensible level eventually.
I have had issues with getting harbourmasters interested in accepting Schengen forms. In Nieuwpoort the Air Force HM stamped and copied my forms and presumably filed them, the Police office was closed. In Breskens the HM waved me away and didn't want to know. In Ijmuiden there was a wooden box to leave the forms but the reception lady would not accept them. Did the forms get filed or binned?
In pre EU days 1976, we were boarded at Ijmuiden by a uniform [customs, police, immigration?] and handed a list of wanted criminals and asked if we were on that list.
 

AntarcticPilot

Well-known member
Joined
4 May 2007
Messages
10,011
Location
Cambridge, UK
www.cooperandyau.co.uk
The news about truckers sandwiches being confiscated is a bit worrying. Does this mean that yachts will have to dump food on arrival?
I hope it will all settle down to a sensible level eventually.
I have had issues with getting harbourmasters interested in accepting Schengen forms. In Nieuwpoort the Air Force HM stamped and copied my forms and presumably filed them, the Police office was closed. In Breskens the HM waved me away and didn't want to know. In Ijmuiden there was a wooden box to leave the forms but the reception lady would not accept them. Did the forms get filed or binned?
In pre EU days 1976, we were boarded at Ijmuiden by a uniform [customs, police, immigration?] and handed a list of wanted criminals and asked if we were on that list.
I had trouble getting into Australia once - my name (a common one) must have been on a watch list. I hadn't realized that I needed a visa for Australia, and arrived at Heathrow and presented my ticket at the desk as usual. "Where's your visa?", they asked. "No problem - we can get one for you by phone; go and have a coffee while we sort it out". About an hour later, they came back and said that the Australian immigration officials weren't prepared to issue a visa over the phone; I'd have to be interviewed at the entry point in Australia. It became apparent that someone with the same name as me was on the Australian watch list, as it was all sorted out very quickly on my arrival in Australia. This was a long time ago - about 1994 - so pre Internet!
 

Ningaloo

Well-known member
Joined
19 Aug 2001
Messages
913
Location
Northern summers on Primal otherwise Perth WA
yacht-primal.com
Does this mean that yachts will have to dump food on arrival?
I think only protein (meat/seafood) and dairy products.
I have had issues with getting harbourmasters interested in accepting Schengen forms.
Presumably before Brexit when you had freedom of movement?
Unfortunately a physical stamp in your passport will now be required to satisfy Schengen until ETIAS is implemented. If you don't have this and are subsequently checked then you could be fined and/or deported and barred from re-entry. Similarly if you don't get another stamp on exit as your Schengen clock will still be running...
 

westhinder

Well-known member
Joined
15 Feb 2003
Messages
2,471
Location
Belgium
Visit site
Dutch Marechaussee refused entry to two British yachtsmen in the harbour of Breskens on Monday. The info in the Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant is very sketchy: 2 British sailors, U.K.-flagged yacht refused entry because they did not meet the requirements to travel in the Netherlands. Whether it was a passport issue or corona-related is not mentioned. It does add that according to police sources since the first of January around 80 U.K. citizens have been refused entry in ports and airports.
 

Ningaloo

Well-known member
Joined
19 Aug 2001
Messages
913
Location
Northern summers on Primal otherwise Perth WA
yacht-primal.com
Dutch Marechaussee refused entry to two British yachtsmen in the harbour of Breskens on Monday. The info in the Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant is very sketchy: 2 British sailors, U.K.-flagged yacht refused entry because they did not meet the requirements to travel in the Netherlands. Whether it was a passport issue or corona-related is not mentioned. It does add that according to police sources since the first of January around 80 U.K. citizens have been refused entry in ports and airports.
No sympathy for them. It is clear that entry into EU is only permitted for specific reasons, and only with a recent negative CV19 test.
One of the additional changes in our status when entering the EU which has not received as much attention as the visa requirement is that entry itself is no longer guaranteed, even if you have the appropriate paperwork. The border official can decline entry if you don't have sufficient medical insurance, don't have sufficient funds or have a criminal record.
 

saab96

Active member
Joined
21 Feb 2009
Messages
181
Location
Bath, Somerset or sailing Portugal to Azores
www.lesweatheritt.com
No because your boat will now be treated as EU VAT paid. All you need to do is keep your mooring receipt (and I'd suggest a few dated photos) for 31/13/20.

Your problems arise if you return the boat to the UK after 31/12/21 as you'll have to pay UK VAT if you do.
Brexit has sneaked a lot passed us citizens. Did the government really add another month to 2020? What did they call it?
 

AntarcticPilot

Well-known member
Joined
4 May 2007
Messages
10,011
Location
Cambridge, UK
www.cooperandyau.co.uk
Julius Augustus had two summer months named after him. This new 13th month is called 'Boris' and as it is a winter month has a 'r' in it so you can eat oysters.
Close, but no banana! July is named after Julius Caesar; August after his successor, Augustus Caesar (Octavian). Julius had a good claim; he promoted a major change to the calendar, the Julian calendar which was more accurate than previous ones. Augustus was the guy who set up the imperial system.
 
Top