SirMorris
New member
Looking for recommendation for a shipper to transport a 34” sailboat from East coast to UK. On a budget.
Massachusetts . To anywhere UK.I think the From and To data are incomplete.
Have us East Angle Irons declared UDI already? That will upset Nicola!Looking for recommendation for a shipper to transport a 34” sailboat from East coast to UK. On a budget.
Looking for recommendation for a shipper to transport a 34” sailboat from East coast to UK. On a budget.
VAT and duty is an interesting area, although this was all well before br*x*t so not sure how it plays out now.
Ours was not returned goods but was VAT and duty exempt. It depends whether you were resident outside the EU (at the time) and bought and owned the vessel there long enough to meet the ‘personal possessions’ criteria of HMRC. If so then it can be brought to the UK and ‘deemed VAT paid’. HMRC were very helpful in these matters I have to say. The OP didn’t say quite what his circumstances were so difficult to comment on what he should expect.Nothing to do with Brexit as coming from outside the EU anyway. Duty and VAT will be applied if the boat is classed as an import. If it is returned goods, and qualifies for RGR, then no vat or duty will be due.
Our boat is 16 years old and we had to do none of this when we brought it over from the US. The trick was to buy one from a US manufacturer who had bothered to get all their boats CE certified in the first place. Alternatively, some people just bring a boat over and live with it as CAT D and not worry about it - for private non-commercial use its unlikely to be much of a problem except for resale and it can join the tens of thousands of other non-CE boats that seem to live quite happily in UK waters.Are you planning to have the boat in the UK for a short period, or longer? Apart from the shipping cost, and VAT/duty, you may need to get the boat certified (the CE mark is being replaced in the UK by the UKCA mark). This certification process is fairly expensive, and if the engine is more than 10 years old you'll probably have to replace the engine. It's all very complicated, so be sure to check what's needed before you commit yourself.
Our 38 footer cost us around £10k all in to ship 10 years ago - doubt you’d get much change from that for a 34’ these days although a 34” sailboat should be considerably cheaper... . Shipping costs are charged by volume not length though so “it depends”. IIRC we did also have Peters & May arrange the shipping from Baltimore to Southampton as well as the clearance, we then sorted transport from there to Tollesbury (by road, because it was easier while she was still all shrink wrapped)Looking for recommendation for a shipper to transport a 34” sailboat from East coast to UK. On a budget.