Buying a previously imported boat

[dave_gibsea]

A pal of mine is looking to buy a small sailing dinghy. The boat they have been looking at was imported from outside the UK by the previous owner for their own personal use. The seller says he got custom clearance at the time and paid duty which is all well and good but what evidence / documents should my pal expect to see and what is his liability if it's not all correct? (ie does the liability change with the ownership or stay with the person who did the import?)

 

[Tranona]

Strictly speaking he should look for evidence that it was imported legally with duty and VAT paid plus compliance with the RCD. You don't say when it was imported but this may have a bearing on the last requirement. It is irrelevant whether he imported for "personal" use or for sale, the requirements are the same, except if he imported it under the returning resident VAT exemption rule. The fact that he claims he paid duty suggests he did not have exemption.

The liability remains with the importer, but in theory customs have the right to place a charge on the boat, although probably unlikely they would bother on a low value item like this. Given that there are no random checks on such things the chances of it ever being queried are very low. Make sure he gets a proper Bill of Sale (model form on the RYA site) where the seller signs that he has clear title and there are no outstanding charges. Worth using the uncertainty arising from the lack of documentation as a bargaining point to reduce the price.

 

[bjl]

I doubt that HM Revenue and Customs will ever check if the original owner still has his small sailing dinghy and, if not, who he sold it to. Your pal can buy the small dinghy complete with any documentation the vendor wishes to give him, or none at all, and he can rest easy at night. HM Revenue and Customs will not come looking for him.