Buying abroad advice

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CrispM

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Hi,

New to posting but avid reader of MBY and the forum particularly the cruising reports of the med where we hope to be later this year all being well.

I am looking to buy a second hand boat for the med. Probably a 50ft Flybridge.

My concern is the boats I am looking at are in Italy or Turkey. Many years ago I nearly got stung on the VAT front on a UK boat (just being naive and trusting the broker) so I am really keen to avoid the same mistake. Having read an article in this months MBY about the trouble Harry Metcalfe had with buying a P61 abroad and getting part 1 registration etc I wondered if anyone knew of a company/person who might be able do all the checks/paperwork. For example one of the boats I'm looking at is US registered and no VAT paid. I would want to change it to UK part 1 and pay the VAT.

Any advice, or if anyone knows of such a company, would be very gratefully received.

many thanks
 
Hi,

I have form in this area. I recently bought a very similar boat to the one you are looking for in France, having looked all over the med. my purchase was also written up for MBY but I forget which issue it was published in.

Ian Collett and his team at Ward & Mckenzie will do exactly what you are after and safeguard your transaction as much as possible. I have used them for 3 purchases and they are very good.
 
CrispM said:
Hi,

New to posting but avid reader of MBY and the forum particularly the cruising reports of the med where we hope to be later this year all being well.

I am looking to buy a second hand boat for the med. Probably a 50ft Flybridge.

My concern is the boats I am looking at are in Italy or Turkey. Many years ago I nearly got stung on the VAT front on a UK boat (just being naive and trusting the broker) so I am really keen to avoid the same mistake. Having read an article in this months MBY about the trouble Harry Metcalfe had with buying a P61 abroad and getting part 1 registration etc I wondered if anyone knew of a company/person who might be able do all the checks/paperwork. For example one of the boats I'm looking at is US registered and no VAT paid. I would want to change it to UK part 1 and pay the VAT.

Any advice, or if anyone knows of such a company, would be very gratefully received.

many thanks
Click to expand...

You need to be careful with the US registered boat as unless it was built in the EEA it will almost certainly not comply with the RCD so you will not be able to legally import it into the EU.

You are right to be cautious, particularly if buying in Turkey (less of a problem in Italy) so wise to follow Whitelighter's advice. There are so many potential pitfalls and if you are not up to speed yourself you need professional advice. A good broker selling the boat may well be a good source, but not all are as good as they should be!
 
Hi, welcome to the forum. There's already quite a bit about this subject going back over the last few years, however the forum search engine is a bit hit & miss. US (typically Delaware) registration is not uncommon on boats, especially non vat paid/ non EU ones in the Eastern Med, and need not ring alarm bells necessarily. I've actually just been going through a similar process myself, but with a Delaware boat located outside the EU. Although I wasn't looking to Part 1 register, I decided that for the cost against risk involved I'd feel safer letting a specialist lawyer handle it. Apart from the obvious advice and input they could provide, they could also include a really useful clause in any contract which would make the vendor responsible for any debts or liens etc which might later manifest themselves. Whatever you decide, for the cost of a phone call, it might be well worth speaking to one without any need for commitment or outlay initially. If of any use to you, here's one that I found very helpful, www.yachtinglawyers.com
Good hunting.
 
I went through a similiar process at the end of 2014 -Italy or Greece .
At the time Greece had an acute banking crisis along with alleleged rioting and civil unrest , supose with Turkey you have to and you only have to dicide if you want to do a large basically trust worthy transaction .

Mean while in Italy -the VAT issue especially and the rest -eg -reg etc surprisingly very simple and straight forward .
So straight forward you can do it all yourself with the help of the broker easily ,without engaging 3rd parties .
My write up is in I think June 2013,s MBY ? And there's plenty of threads on here about boat buying in Italy .

Aside flights etc are more plenty full -to IT ,and I,am thinking buy an EU compliant /made boat as well -it's just little things later on like shore power and plug sockets etc -although it's ( the none EU boat ) allready been "adapted " -keeping it that way by way of parts /repairs will with sods law bite you in the backside at some chandlery in some god forsaken remote island in the middle of an August hol shutdown .

Where are you thinking of initially keeping the boat ?
 
Thanks for the advice.

Most of the boats I've looked at are UK made i.e. princess, Sunseeker etc. If they were made here would they have been RCD compliant even if US registered?
 
Hi Portofino,

I had initially thought of keeping the boat in the western med - balaerics or SOF but if buying in eastern med will probably start in that area for a season - We've chartered in Greece in the past. We've got the whole summer hols this year with the kids so hopefully a couple of months of pootling!
 
Thanks Stillwaters.
One of the boats I had looked at was Delaware registered too. I will give the yachting lawyers a call. Tx for the advice.
 
CrispM said:
Thanks for the advice.

Most of the boats I've looked at are UK made i.e. princess, Sunseeker etc. If they were made here would they have been RCD compliant even if US registered?
Click to expand...

Yes. Registration is nothing to do with RCD compliance.... but the original owner, if he was not intending to use in the EU could have had the boat built to US spec. So, important to check that the boat does comply. There should be a declaration in the owners handbook, and plate on the boat. Also the builder will have records of build. Only important that the boat complied when it was first built, so the declaration will be enough.
 
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