Dekpa and letting friends and relatives use your boat.

[spencerd]

I guess you can gather that I have not done this before. But will be taking my boat off-charter and from the management company at the end of this season I will now have to learn the ropes of all things legal to Greece and do all the paperwork myself.

1. Do you have to have the registered owner on-board when having papers inspected?

2. If I was to boat share do all parties have to be registered owners?

3. I also have to pay the dreaded VAT, are they still valuing the boat at present value or what I initially paid for it?

4. Any help with info and websites would be much appreciated.

 

[Tranona]

Makes sense to have all the owners on the registration document and on the DEKPA. However, a letter authorising the skipper to use the boat seems to be acceptable. Can be difficult with registration if the owners have different nationality or residence.

VAT will depend on the contract that you bought the boat under. If you paid the full price and received an income, then the VAT will be based on the written down value. That will depend on what the charter management company has agreed with the tax authorities, but is usually 50% of the contract price. If you paid only a portion of the original cost then the VAT may be based on the original contract price you paid if that was the typical 48-53% full price. You need to ask the management company for a full statement of what the charges are.

When I took over my boat, the process was very straightforward, if a little long winded. The Bill of Sale needs to be endorsed by the Port Police with all new owners present or notarised by the Greek embassy in the UK. In our case we did this before the transfer took place. Important to be at the boat for the final handover check as this is often a low priority for the local crew. I was there 10 days to make sure everything was done before signing the handover. The deregistration takes 6-8 weeks and you may well find there is a hefty charge for this process. Agree the date at which you take over the insurance and mooring fees. You can register the boat on the SSR as soon as you get confirmation of deregistration. You will get a deregistration document confirming the boat is free of all charges, however, most management companies finance their part (in a part finance contract) with a 4 or 5 year mortgage on the boat, So it is sensible to get a letter from the back confirming they no longer have a charge over it.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to PM me.

 

[nimbusgb]

Apply for a fresh ssr registration certificate with friends name on it as co owner. This is now 'proof of ownership' as far as Greek authorities are concerned but as we are frequently reminded not proof of ownership really. 1 week afterwards just apply for replacement ssr in just the original owners name. Friend pays £40. Satisfies the Greek beurocracy.

Add friend to insurance policy.