Buying abroad, ie not UK

[Darkmyst]

I notice some liveabords own USA boats, this was my original idea, to buy from there, but having read about V.A.T issues, and CE marks... how do you do it.. also does the year of the boat you buy make a difference..

as example,, Hunter 32 is available in the uk and usa.. so are the CE marks there ?

Does an older boat, example Elizabethan 33 (year 1987or even older) fall foul of the new laws.

Rgds
Darkmyst

 

[petie]

Have a think about buying in EU. A new Motor Boat that I am interested in buying is about £15000 cheaper to buy, like for like, in Holland compared to UK Dealers price

 

[Lizzie_B]

depends what your sailing plans are. Eg -If you want to circumnavigate, then makes no difference if you start and finish in the USA and is a whole lot cheaper
Generally speaking, I would say the price differentials are largest if looking for an older 36 to 45 footer, to make dealing with the complexities of tax, importation and RCD worth while.

Eg, my 1981 38 footer cost £16K and I spent another £5-6K fitting her out for off shore work - including new standing and running rigging, new heavy weather Genoa, prop, propstrut, electronics etc.
At the time, I couldn't find anything remotely close on the market in the UK for less than £40K and bringing them up to standard would have cost me easily twice as much in the UK.

Had we decided to sail her back to the EU we would still have been ahead financially. However, sailing costs in the USA are very much cheaper and keeping the boat over there suits our sailing time patterns so we kept her there in the end, . We pay $3400 per year for a 40ft berth in a luxury full service marina with pool - (the first marina we based in had better facilities than Haslar or Gosport marina's and apologised when they put the cost of our 40 ft slip up to $1209 per year).
A friend who looked with us and bought a 40 footer sailed his back and he reckons he was well ahead financially.

Certain categories of boat eg built in EU, sailed across by someone doing an atlantic trip and up for sale in USA are exempt RCD which is actually the biggest pain to deal with in some circumstances.

I can email you a copy of the RCD if you PM me an email address.
I think you would have to look at the individual merits of each potential boat.

EU built boats eg buying a new Jeaneau in FL are generally quite simple to deal with, but my impression was that the price differentials were not so worthwhile when I last looked in 2004/05. It would be worth seeing what it would cost to buy a Sun Odessy in other EU countries compared to the UK and USA.

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[BelleSerene]

I heard that if you can get your seller to sail the boat into the EU and purchase it there, you can then just show that you bought it in the EU and there's no VAT to pay. Do you know what's the story behind this?

 

[brandg]

boy, I'm confused.

I'm just starting to look at the possibilities of buying in Europe and am unaware of the various pitfalls - certainly bodes well for using an honest broker - but where to search out that bargin becomes the first challenge.

At the risk of sounding totally naive, I understand what VAT is but not when it is applicable in a transaction involving boats. Is there a web site that may partially de-mystify the process?

I'm not even sure what RCD is?

Gary

 

[Lizzie_B]

No. Tis a myth. You would still have to pay VAT / or the seller would and no doubt he would include that in the asking price.

 

[Lizzie_B]

VAT is payable on boats when they are first imported into the EU ( with a few very specific exceptions )or sold in the EU. So bringing in a boat from outside the EU you would have to pay VAT on it, or if buying an EU boat, when the boat is first offered for sale in the EU.VAT rates and the basis for charge calculation varies from member state to member state.

The RCD (Recreational Craft Directive) is a protectionist piece of legislation masquerading under the cloak of improving safety.
All boats being 'put into service' for the first time in the EU are required to comply with it (again there are a few very specific exemptions).

 

[Sea Devil]

Don't want to push it but have a look at my site and go to the section (via sailing) marked CE plate... I was seriously considering doing the same thing but for purely domestic reasons cannot....

It is not as difficult or expensive to CE plate a boat as people think... Not a DIY job you must use a professional company but it only takes a week...The biggest problem is the engine type but the company doing the CE plating will tell you before you buy the boat if the engine is not going to pass muster


Michael