Corvette 320

[TracyJ]

Morning all, just thought i would introduce myself as new to the forum. I've just bought a 2001 Corvette 320 which was seized by the Sheriff of Guernsey. It hasn't moved for 8 yrs !! The plan is to bring her back to Poole and refurb her for a trip down the French canals. I'm looking forward to maybe being able to use the forum as a place for recommendations, tips and hints etc. Thanks Tracy

 

[longjohnsilver]

Morning all, just thought i would introduce myself as new to the forum. I've just bought a 2001 Corvette 320 which was seized by the Sheriff of Guernsey. It hasn't moved for 8 yrs !! The plan is to bring her back to Poole and refurb her for a trip down the French canals. I'm looking forward to maybe being able to use the forum as a place for recommendations, tips and hints etc. Thanks Tracy

Hi Tracy, and welcome.

E have at least one Corvette owner here, Trevor, known as superheat6k, who knows just about everything there is to know about these boats. No doubt he will respond sometime soon.

Good luck with the restoration and don’t be hesitant in asking questions. And take plenty of pics!

 

[CLB]

Trevor may also be able to help you out on the inevitable VAT payment :encouragement:

 

[TracyJ]

Hi Tracy, and welcome.

E have at least one Corvette owner here, Trevor, known as superheat6k, who knows just about everything there is to know about these boats. No doubt he will respond sometime soon.

Good luck with the restoration and don’t be hesitant in asking questions. And take plenty of pics!

Thank you for the welcome. I was trying to post a pic but couldn't figure out the whole URL thing! Thought i could just upload one ? She is coming out of the water tomorrow so we can see just exactly what sort of state she is in

 

[TracyJ]

Trevor may also be able to help you out on the inevitable VAT payment :encouragement:

She's reg with the small ships registry, so i'm hoping she has the paperwork for it. Going over next week to sort it with the sheriff.

 

[petem]

She's reg with the small ships registry, so i'm hoping she has the paperwork for it. Going over next week to sort it with the sheriff.

You don't need any paperwork to register on the SSR so I wouldn't get any comfort from that. However, I assume that buying from the Sheriff will guarantee you good title and you pay the VAT when you import to the UK.

Anyhow, good luck and I'm sure Trevor (superheat6k) will be ecstatic to welcome another Corvettte owner to the fold.

 

[TracyJ]

You don't need any paperwork to register on the SSR so I wouldn't get any comfort from that. However, I assume that buying from the Sheriff will guarantee you good title and you pay the VAT when you import to the UK.

Anyhow, good luck and I'm sure Trevor (superheat6k) will be ecstatic to welcome another Corvettte owner to the fold.

Thanks for that piece of info Petem :encouragement:

 

[CLB]

Officially the boat has exchanged hands outside of the EU so, regardless of its previous VAT status, the boat is now deemed VATable when brought into the UK. You should try and do the right thing as the penalties for not doing so will be quite severe. It's basically smuggling. Talk to Trevor, I believe he bought in the Channel islands as well, and went through the VAT paying procedure on import. As a fellow Corvette owner, I know he will be very happy to help.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Officially the boat has exchanged hands outside of the EU so, regardless of its previous VAT status, the boat is now deemed VATable when brought into the UK. You should try and do the right thing as the penalties for not doing so will be quite severe. It's basically smuggling. Talk to Trevor, I believe he bought in the Channel islands as well, and went through the VAT paying procedure on import. As a fellow Corvette owner, I know he will be very happy to help.

Doesn’t it depend on the age of the boat. I’m certainly o VAT expert but if it was built prior to around 1984 no VAT is payable. Do check as I may be totally wrong.

 

[Kawasaki]

Spot On LJ
When sorted will make a fantastic Boat TracyJ

 

[CLB]

Doesn’t it depend on the age of the boat. I’m certainly o VAT expert but if it was built prior to around 1984 no VAT is payable. Do check as I may be totally wrong.

Spot On LJ
When sorted will make a fantastic Boat TracyJ

I may be wrong, but I don't think that applies to a newly imported boat, which is what this will effectively be.

 

[superheat6k]

Hi Tracy and welcome to the World of Corvette ownership. May I also suggest you may wish to the join the Corvette Motorboat Association which can be found at www.corvettemotorboat.wordpress.com along with a wealth of information about the Corvette marque.

We were aware of the sale by auction that came up recently, so pleased to hear from the successful buyer.

I bought my Corvette in Jersey so can explain the VAT process to bring the boat back to the UK. Customs Notice 8 explains the liability, but not the payment process. Your liability will be assessed as 20% of the sum you paid for her.

If she is registered on the SSR in the Channel Islands this may not be valid in the UK (mine was not for a Jersey boat). However, registering on the UK SSR is straightforward and just £25, but you will get a different number.

 

[jfm]

Spot On LJ

Nope. The boat is VATable upon import to Uk regardless of anything in its pre -Tracyj history, if TracyJ is an EU resident private owner. CLB has it correct in #8 above. ( It's amazing how VAT is 180 deg misunderstood on here despite zillions of prior threads on it!)

 

[TracyJ]

Hi Tracy and welcome to the World of Corvette ownership. May I also suggest you may wish to the join the Corvette Motorboat Association which can be found at www.corvettemotorboat.wordpress.com along with a wealth of information about the Corvette marque.

We were aware of the sale by auction that came up recently, so pleased to hear from the successful buyer.

I bought my Corvette in Jersey so can explain the VAT process to bring the boat back to the UK. Customs Notice 8 explains the liability, but not the payment process. Your liability will be assessed as 20% of the sum you paid for her.

If she is registered on the SSR in the Channel Islands this may not be valid in the UK (mine was not for a Jersey boat). However, registering on the UK SSR is straightforward and just £25, but you will get a different number.

Hi hanks for the welcome Trever. I believe my partner Steve has already signed up to the corvette website. I will be passing a the useful info to him. lady Rose was lifted today and looking in good condition. Tracy

 

[superheat6k]

Nope. The boat is VATable upon import to Uk regardless of anything in its pre -Tracyj history, if TracyJ is an EU resident private owner. CLB has it correct in #8 above. ( It's amazing how VAT is 180 deg misunderstood on here despite zillions of prior threads on it!)

John - when I was buying in Jersey one boat I looked at had a very tenuous VAT status claimed by its CI resident owner and also his CI broker. He had owned the boat in CI for ~ 10 years, after buying it VAT paid in the EU, but suggested its VAT status was maintained by his occasional forays to France.

I felt the VAT rules were clear that it likely did not, especially as it hadn't left its mooring for at least 3 years, but when I enquired with the RYA their view was also that it was VAT paid still.

I did not fancy trying to maintain a VAT paid status on some unprovable weekend trips to obscure French ports several years previously by the vendor, and advised my view it was no longer VAT paid status. However, could not agree the price anyway and I instead bought Boadicea which was a VAT never paid boat, so its status was crystal clear.

 

[jfm]

John - when I was buying in Jersey one boat I looked at had a very tenuous VAT status claimed by its CI resident owner and also his CI broker. He had owned the boat in CI for ~ 10 years, after buying it VAT paid in the EU, but suggested its VAT status was maintained by his occasional forays to France.

I felt the VAT rules were clear that it likely did not, especially as it hadn't left its mooring for at least 3 years, but when I enquired with the RYA their view was also that it was VAT paid still.

I did not fancy trying to maintain a VAT paid status on some unprovable weekend trips to obscure French ports several years previously by the vendor, and advised my view it was no longer VAT paid status. However, could not agree the price anyway and I instead bought Boadicea which was a VAT never paid boat, so its status was crystal clear.

Yup you were correct. Once it is outside Eu 3 yrs it loses its vat paid status. There are circumstances where the law allows an extension to the 3 years, but it is hard to imagine them ever applying to a boat. Remember the architecture of the law here: a boat does not " keep" its vat paid status when it leaves EU. Rather, when it returns it is an import from outside the EU and wants to qualify for a relief from the Vat normally payable on import. One such Relief is " returned goods relief" and the terms of RGR say 3 years with v limited exceptions. So the thing you say someone told you above, about special treatment for private boats, is baloney as you correctly thought.
As a general rule, if one wants to find out the answer to a moderately complex tax law question I wouldn't suggest one starts at a yacht broker office or an RYA employee .
By the way I assisted 2 years ago on re import of a previously vat paid super yacht (around 40m from one of the uber yards so 8 figures of value ) back into EU after 4 years outside EU, without paying the VAT again, but it was tricky and I didn't pick UK as the country of entry because I wanted certainty. Was a friend's boat, not mine, before anyone asks about the build thread
All very theoretical as regards actually paying tax but not so academic these days in terms of getting price chipped when selling a boat with imperfect paperwork and people getting vat-spooked by Internet forums
Far more importantly - welcome to the forum Tracyj. Should have said that earlier. Nice boat and quite a classic now.

 

[TracyJ]

Lol all of that pretty much went over my head Jfm, but thank you for the warm welcome. We are really looking forward to the project. I’m leaving Steve to sort all the VAT stuff !!

 

[Tranona]

Doesn’t it depend on the age of the boat. I’m certainly o VAT expert but if it was built prior to around 1984 no VAT is payable. Do check as I may be totally wrong.

Yes, you are totally wrong - and VAT was introduced long before 1984 in the UK. Age of the boat has nothing to do with it. VAT is a tax on transactions and importing a boat from outside the EU VAT area is a "chargeable event" and therefore VAT is payable on the current value of the boat which presumably will be the purchase price plus any transport costs if it does not arrive under its own steam.

 

[Lower Limit 1909]

... VAT is payable on ... the purchase price plus any transport costs if it does not arrive under its own steam.

I've zero knowledge on this but it's unfortunate if HMRC are (as suggested) financially incentivising inadvisable passages through tax savings ...

 

[Tranona]

I've zero knowledge on this but it's unfortunate if HMRC are (as suggested) financially incentivising inadvisable passages through tax savings ...

There is no intention to do that. VAT/import duty rules are always the same for all products, based on the landed price. Whether the boat is safe to make the passage is entirely the decision of the skipper/owner.

It is only you who are suggesting there is a ulterior motive!