Dealing with a South African deceased estate boat in Greece

[Hellpants]

Hi folks.

I'm Martin. I'm currently in Cape Town awaiting travel to be opened up allowing me transit to my boat in Greece.

I'm not entirely sure where I stand here and hope that someone may have a similar experience or information for me.

I purchased the boat from a South African deceased estate. The boat has been lying on the hard in Preveza for two years.
All logs etc are on board and as yet I do not have access to them.

I have been the owner of the boat since March, I am a dual citizen of the UK and South Africa, and I have deregistered the boat in South Africa and put her onto the UK register.
I am in the process of moving back to the UK permanently and my intention was to sail back from Greece to the UK this summer.
I have filled out a Transfer of Residence for the UK government. What I am unsure of, is penalties and possible fines I may have to resolve in Greece.

The boat has been out of the water on the hard since July 2018, he passed away in August. I am very confused about who and what taxes and penalties I may encounter. I have all
the documentation from my side that I could arrange for the boat to be mine in title etc, but the items that are on the boat itself, I have been unable to source or see due to coronavirus putting a halt on my getting
over to see her in April.

Any advice on the matter would be very much appreciated.

thank you
Martin

 

[wwalsh]

There wont be any greek tax for the sale of a non greek flag yacht from foreigner to foreigner.
There is the TEPAI cruising tax but as the yacht is ashore it is not required to be paid. It will be necessary to pay at least one month for when the yacht is launched.
Probably there will be shipyard storage costs to pay.
The problem is that the yacht is non eu flag and will have 18 month transit log. If the yacht was not placed into customs bond with the papers handed in to the port authority then there could be fine for that. Perhaps they will make some concession because the owner died.

 

[Tony Cross]

There wont be any greek tax for the sale of a non greek flag yacht from foreigner to foreigner.
There is the TEPAI cruising tax but as the yacht is ashore it is not required to be paid. It will be necessary to pay at least one month for when the yacht is launched.
Probably there will be shipyard storage costs to pay.
The problem is that the yacht is non eu flag and will have 18 month transit log. If the yacht was not placed into customs bond with the papers handed in to the port authority then there could be fine for that. Perhaps they will make some concession because the owner died.

+1

I would phone the yard where the boat is on the hard ASAP and explain to them what's happened and that you're the new owner. You will certainly have to pay any outstanding fees, possibly even from before you owned her if there are any. I suspect the biggest problems you'll face will be with the boat yard...

 

[Irish Rover]

The problem is that the yacht is non eu flag and will have 18 month transit log. If the yacht was not placed into customs bond with the papers handed in to the port authority then there could be fine for that. Perhaps they will make some concession because the owner died.

I bought a VAT NOT PAID boat in Preveza just over 2 years ago and I found the customs officials there excellent to deal with. I have the name and e mail address of the official I dealt with. She was extremely helpful and spoke excellent English. OP can pm me if he needs it.

 

[duncan99210]

The yard may also be able to provide you with the name and contact details of a couple of agents inPreveza who have set themselves up in the past couple of years to deal with questions like this. They advertise in the yards and have offices in town, know the local Port Police and Customs folks and should be able to resolve your situation for you before you arrive if you’re pressed for time.
Remember that you‘ll need a UK address if you’re going to put the boat on the SSR.

 

[Irish Rover]

I think I may not have read the OP carefully first time. Apparently the boat was SA registered but there's no indication of whether it's EU VAT PAID or UNPAID. So it's VAT status is the first question to be determined before going any further.

 

[wwalsh]

If the yacht is VAT not paid then VAT will be required to be paid on import to the UK

and for the rest of the voyage hopefully nobody notices

 

[Irish Rover]

If the yacht is VAT not paid then VAT will be required to be paid on import to the UK

I'm not sure that's absolutely correct. If the OP declares UK residency then the VAT will have to be paid in Greece unless he tells the Greek Customs he is taking it out of the EU in which case they will grant him a 30 day Transit Log for that purpose. He could of course declare SA residency in which case he'd be granted an 18 month TL but I'm not sure how that helps really if his intention is to take it back to the UK. Let the OP clarify the VAT status and we can try to help him thereafter.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Also it could be possible to claim returning residantice status but he may need to own the vessel for a certain amount of time to claim that.

 

[wwalsh]

Also the yacht needs to be CE marked (unless it was in the EU prior to 06/1998)

 

[Mistroma]

I believe all three yards are open for business. Boat next to mine is launching on Monday, owned by a helpful South African guy as it happens. I can check if he knows if they are open to do any work on a boat pre-launch. I don't think that would be a problem but OP can expect his boat to need quite a lot of work after 2 years. No problem if he can do his own servicing.

Preveza is a pretty good place to be start off from as there's access to pretty much anything he'd need. I don't see the yard causing any trouble as long as bills are paid. Cleopatra will charge quite a lot for work and an extra 25% of the bill if off-site workers are used.

 

[Chris_Robb]

There wont be any greek tax for the sale of a non greek flag yacht from foreigner to foreigner.
There is the TEPAI cruising tax but as the yacht is ashore it is not required to be paid. It will be necessary to pay at least one month for when the yacht is launched.
Probably there will be shipyard storage costs to pay.
The problem is that the yacht is non eu flag and will have 18 month transit log. If the yacht was not placed into customs bond with the papers handed in to the port authority then there could be fine for that. Perhaps they will make some concession because the owner died.

The EU law allows for extended Temporary import in exceptional circumstances. The Covid 19 event has been declared such an event (which Greece has agreed to as well). The VAT status is important here as using UK residence and registration is a problem until 30th December 2020, ie you cannot be a resident of an EU country and use TI. After 31th December, when the UK leaves finally, you will be able to temporarily import.

If it is not VAT paid, why change from South african flag? Do you have a permeneant address in the UK? if not you cannot register the yacht here - if you have done so that is illegal! Next year the UK will be a third country like SA, so will have exactly the same status

 

[Chris_Robb]

Also it could be possible to claim returning residantice status but he may need to own the vessel for a certain amount of time to claim that.

A sale has taken place abroad (SA) so Returned Goods Relief is definitely not available. VAT dies on a sale outside the EU and it looks like the sale contract was made in South Africa? Get that changed to UK or anywhere within the EU if you can and preserve the VAT (if paid)

 

[wwalsh]

If it is not VAT paid, why change from South african flag? Do you have a permeneant address in the UK? if not you cannot register the yacht here - if you have done so that is illegal! Next year the UK will be a third country like SA, so will have exactly the same status

British SSR registry is for UK residents.
but British Part I registry since 03/2019 has been opened to many different nationals and they dont have to be resident in UK provided they have a representative.
* If none of the owners making up the majority interest is resident in the UK, a representative person must be appointed. (A body corporate is treated as a resident if it has a place of business in the UK)
Owner eligibility to register merchant or pleasure vessel MSF 4727