Tranona
Well-known member
There is actually a long thread running on the subject on the MOBO forum at the moment. There have been many attempts to get the information you are asking for, both on various fora and in a more formal way through a survey by the RYA a few years ago.
The general answer, unsurprisingly is in line with your experience. However, where examples have been quoted it is usually connected with boats that have a history of being kept outside the EU and it often occurs in places where there is a "border" EU/Non EU - so Gibb/Spain, Brittany/Channel Islands, Italy/Croatia, Turkey/Greece and Atlantic landfall ports such as Azores. As you will see from the MOBO thread, the issues are around "smuggling" rather than "internal" EU offences.
That is why I was suggesting that it makes sense to have the transaction in the EU if the boat already has "VAT paid Status" as if the transaction takes place outside the EU this status is lost and the boat will be liable for VAT if it ever re-enters the EU.
The general answer, unsurprisingly is in line with your experience. However, where examples have been quoted it is usually connected with boats that have a history of being kept outside the EU and it often occurs in places where there is a "border" EU/Non EU - so Gibb/Spain, Brittany/Channel Islands, Italy/Croatia, Turkey/Greece and Atlantic landfall ports such as Azores. As you will see from the MOBO thread, the issues are around "smuggling" rather than "internal" EU offences.
That is why I was suggesting that it makes sense to have the transaction in the EU if the boat already has "VAT paid Status" as if the transaction takes place outside the EU this status is lost and the boat will be liable for VAT if it ever re-enters the EU.