Buying a Yacht in Italy

[Alenka]

I am currently considering a 13m yacht that is for sale in Italy with the intention of taking her to Greek waters. I have been warned it will take many months to de-register from the Italian flag and transfer her to the British flag.

I seem to remember reading it is not possible to own and sail a boat on a foreign flag from one country to another. Has anyone had similar experience? Am I headed for a whole lot of trouble??

 

[marcot]

It Tolkien to me about one month to deregister my boat in Italy. No problem at all, but :
I've done it on my own; I' m an italian.

 

[BartW]

Last year I bought a 70ft boat in Italy.
they warned me that the IT DE-registration would take very long, and it did. (about 4 months)
The broker adviced me to keep the boat on IT flag, but I didn't want that,
don't know the consequences though

I was able to Register the boat in Belgium even before she was unregistered in Italy, (a Belgium workaround )
but insisted from the owner on the It deregistration,
I only payed the remaining amount, when I had all the papers, so for him there was no reason to delay the de-registration.

It had to do with the "commercial" registration why it took so long they told me.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

I bought my current boat in Italy 2 years ago (although it was actually being sold by a Croatian boat dealer). The boat was originally registered in Italy and I wanted it Part I UK registered. The dealer undertook the process of deregistering the boat in Italy and re-registering it under a Delaware registration and then I undertook the process of registering it in the UK. This process did take several months and it is absolutely vital you have original bills of sale confirming changes in title going back at least 5 yrs otherwise the UK registry will not accept the boat. It also needs a tonnage survey which requires a visit by a UK surveyor to inspect the boat. My UK registration process was managed by http://www.yachtregistrations.com/. Worthwile having a word with Elaine Dowland there.
As I said this process did take months but that is nothing to worry about because in the interim, you can just register the boat under the Part III Small Ships Register http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Boatingandtravellingbywater/PleasureCraft/DG_180594 which you can very easily do online and a few days later you get an official looking laminated registration document. In my case, I never had a problem showing the SSR document to anybody who wanted to see it and that included Croatian port authorities for getting an official cruising vignette and once when we were stopped by Croatian customs for inspection. IMHO, nobody cares too much about the registration document providing it looks vaguely official

 

[muyuu]

Is this process doable from the UK and how much does it cost more or less? I'm looking into a boat for sale in Italy under Italian flag.

 

[Whitelighter]

Anything is possible.

If you are borrowing money on a marine mortgage you will need to fund the purchase independently as the deregustrTion process can take a bit of time and this needs to be done before the mortgage will pay out.

 

[muyuu]

Anything is possible.

If you are borrowing money on a marine mortgage you will need to fund the purchase independently as the deregistration process can take a bit of time and this needs to be done before the mortgage will pay out.

I was planning to pay up front. However if the paperwork is expensive it could be a factor.

I tried the link above (yachtsregistrations.com) but it's dead. Any recommendations? Maybe britishyachtregistrations.co.uk is the same company.

Cheers

 

[Tranona]

It is up to the seller (or his agent/broker) to de register, not the buyer. As Mike says you can put the boat on the SSR while the process is working its way through.

 

[muyuu]

It is up to the seller (or his agent/broker) to de register, not the buyer. As Mike says you can put the boat on the SSR while the process is working its way through.

How about the flag? I've been told I can keep the Italian flag, but I'm not sure what does that entail.

 

[Portofino]

I think only Italien citizens or company's can keep a boat under IT flag .
As others have said the seller ( via broker usually ) will be motivated to deflag the boat to a foreigner or pass the reg on to another Italien -to get out of any forward tax liabilities .
They have a blue book a bit like a V5 for a uk car ,which holds all the info inc by inference vat pad status ,
Folks at the tax office use the info .
Broker at the point of sale will issue you with an official sort of tempory cover note -taking the seller of the reg .
At this piont as Mike says you can hold a Uk SSR part 3 ( online form ) and fly a red ensign .
I,am assuming you are eligible ?
Once out of Italien waters you will then need to send the original blue book back to the broker .
A few -say 2 months later you will receive the official irradiation of the flag documents from the broker .
Then it's all official -if you end up back in IT waters you will have official papers if Gardia Finanza stop you .
We that's my understanding of buying an Italien boat .

 

[muyuu]

I think only Italien citizens or company's can keep a boat under IT flag .
As others have said the seller ( via broker usually ) will be motivated to deflag the boat to a foreigner or pass the reg on to another Italien -to get out of any forward tax liabilities .
They have a blue book a bit like a V5 for a uk car ,which holds all the info inc by inference vat pad status ,
Folks at the tax office use the info .
Broker at the point of sale will issue you with an official sort of tempory cover note -taking the seller of the reg .
At this piont as Mike says you can hold a Uk SSR part 3 ( online form ) and fly a red ensign .
I,am assuming you are eligible ?
Once out of Italien waters you will then need to send the original blue book back to the broker .
A few -say 2 months later you will receive the official irradiation of the flag documents from the broker .
Then it's all official -if you end up back in IT waters you will have official papers if Gardia Finanza stop you .
We that's my understanding of buying an Italien boat .

Seller knows nothing about this it seems (inherited boat). I will try finding a broker locally in Southern Italy. The boat has been out of the water for almost 2 years, I'll also need to buy flares etc.

I'm British both citizen and resident, but if I decide to buy I think I'd keep it in the Med for summer hols and escapades. Maybe not in Italy though.

Do you have a rough estimate of the costs involved for mediation/paperwork? I'll go in a couple of weeks to inspect it and try it, but I still haven't committed to buy. I'm also trying to find a reputable surveyor in Southern Italy.

PS: it's a sailboat, I'm replying to this thread because it seemed on topic.

Cheers

 

[petem]

Might be worth sending a PM to 'poweryachtblog' of this parish who is Malta based but can facilitate and carry out the formalities for buyers of Italian boats. IIRC, his charges were very reasonable. Link http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...-infuriating-and-beyond&p=5351315#post5351315.

 

[Portofino]

Seller knows nothing about this it seems (inherited boat). I will try finding a broker locally in Southern Italy. The boat has been out of the water for almost 2 years, I'll also need to buy flares etc.

I'm British both citizen and resident, but if I decide to buy I think I'd keep it in the Med for summer hols and escapades. Maybe not in Italy though.

Do you have a rough estimate of the costs involved for mediation/paperwork? I'll go in a couple of weeks to inspect it and try it, but I still haven't committed to buy. I'm also trying to find a reputable surveyor in Southern Italy.

PS: it's a sailboat, I'm replying to this thread because it seemed on topic.

From Portofino----
I think the transfer fee is a few 100 € for the various stamps and certificates to " irradiate " the flag as they call it.

Blue book should be on board -( Gardia Finanza request it when stopped ) it will list the person(s) or Co who owns it ,and s liable for the boat/ wealth tax on it.
You really need sight of that -think V5 when buying a UK car ! The reg doc .

Seller should know something really about dereg of an IT boat ,simply using the IT equivalent go RYA or google ?

I,am out of my depth re Italien succession rules and who,s liable for the boat tax .
How recent was it inherited ?
Previous boats I looked at I asked for the blue book or copy before even contemplating a viewing .
Also it's not unknown for them to reg it with a relative eg sister who may be married with another name .
You are gonna need a broker or intermediate like PowerYachtblog to navigate through this one .

 

[muyuu]

I think the transfer fee is a few 100 € for the various stamps and certificates to " irradiate " the flag as they call it.

Blue book should be on board -( Gardia Finanza request it when stopped ) it will list the person(s) or Co who owns it ,and s liable for the boat/ wealth tax on it.
You really need sight of that -think V5 when buying a UK car ! The reg doc .

Seller should know something really about dereg of an IT boat ,simply using the IT equivalent go RYA or google ?

I,am out of my depth re Italien succession rules and who,s liable for the boat tax .
How recent was it inherited ?
Previous boats I looked at I asked for the blue book or copy before even contemplating a viewing .
Also it's not unknown for them to reg it with a relative eg sister who may be married with another name .
You are gonna need a broker or intermediate like PowerYachtblog to navigate through this one .

Apparently inherited last year, last sailed in 2013.

I'm going to ask around. This is in Calabria, by the way.

Off topic: I've followed the link and read on what happened to Mike. What a nightmare. This Gianni Iannuzzi, what a c*nt. Guess I won't be using him as broker or surveyor heh.