Are we missing out?

[B&M]

Already this year I have met two boats in Greece, flying the Red Ensign the owners however were German. On inquiring it appears that if they register their boat in Gibraltar they have paid no VAT, but have the same rights while sailing their boats here. They only need a Depka and can keep the boat here as long as they wish.

 

[Tranona]

No. They are probably breaking EU law. VAT is nothing directly to do with registration, the tax is determined by the transaction. Using a boat privately in the EU makes it liable for VAT, unless it is owned by a non EU resident who has applied for temporary importation. In this case usage is limited and the boat has to be exported from the EU when the TI expires.

If it was as easy (and legal) as you seem to think, everybody would be doing it.

Surprised the Greek authorities issued a DEKPA for a non EU registered boat. They usually treat Channel Islands registered boats, even if owned by EU residents as non EU and require a cruising log rather than a DEKPA.

 

[B&M]

I was with one of them when he went to the port police in Kaparisia, they spent 90 min debating whether he should have a cruising log, after many phone calls they said that his paper work was correct!! and he could stay in the country as long as he wanted.

 

[Carmel2]

Is the ducking and diving worth the grief in the long run? Get it right and enjoy life.

 

[macd]

I was with one of them when he went to the port police in Kaparisia, they spent 90 min debating whether he should have a cruising log, after many phone calls they said that his paper work was correct!! and he could stay in the country as long as he wanted.

But then they think that SSR is an appropriate registration for a British yacht in Greece, a view common to pretty much every official in any place you're likely to visit...except the UK registration authorities. Funny old world.

 

[MASH]

How is SSR not appropriate for a British yacht in Greece, or have I misunderstood?

 

[macd]

How is SSR not appropriate for a British yacht in Greece, or have I misunderstood?

Part of this is a bit moot.

You're probably aware that to be eligible for SSR, amongst other things:
You must also be ordinarily resident in the UK (which means living in the UK for periods which add up to 185 days or more in a 12month period)
Many Brit liveaboards in Greece and elsewhere clearly fail to meet this test. There's evidence (not least on these forums) that having largely ignored this in the past Swansea is tightening up on the residence qualification, although it can't be too hard to find a way round it. However, it's easy to imagine the odd round-the-worlder coming unstuck when their SSR runs out somewhere at the back of beyond.

This is a direct quote from an official at Cardiff (although I've never encountered it in official literature): "SSR is intended only for occasional trips overseas." A three-year sojourn to the Eastern Med might stretch that a little. SSR originated, of course, largely at the request of the French authorities, for a cheap and simple means of registering a boat to sail abroad.

The reality on the ground overseas can perhaps be encapsulated by my encounter with a young marina official in the Canaries a couple of years ago, when presented with the Part 1 document on my last boat: "What's this?" he said. He'd evidently seen plenty of SSR's but nary a Part 1.