EU VAT liability British registered boat ‘18 month rule’

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jbm1967

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Hi, does anyone know if I take my boat to Melilla (Spanish autonomous city located on the North African coast) will this count as taking out of the EU for VAT purposes. To get there I would be sailing from Almería in Spain. Thanks
 
jbm1967 said:
Hi, does anyone know if I take my boat to Melilla (Spanish autonomous city located on the North African coast) will this count as taking out of the EU for VAT purposes. To get there I would be sailing from Almería in Spain. Thanks
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There is no definitive definition of what constitutes leaving the EU and re-entering to claim TA. It is left up to individual states and even within states individual customs offices to decide. So best advice is to ask the customs office where you are leaving/re-entering or engage a local agent to do it for you.
 
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SimonX said:
Or Gibraltar
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Is Gib still counting for this purpose after their recent changes?

Edit: also, does Gib even count as leaving EU waters? I seem to recall you can't "anchor in Gibraltar" as it's Spanish waters, and with them now effectively being inside Schengen have you technically left even if using a marina?
 
lustyd said:
Is Gib still counting for this purpose after their recent changes?

Edit: also, does Gib even count as leaving EU waters? I seem to recall you can't "anchor in Gibraltar" as it's Spanish waters, and with them now effectively being inside Schengen have you technically left even if using a marina?
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Oh, yeah, they Schengened it last year, didn’t they.
 
Sort of :ROFLMAO: It seems unclear about the VAT on further reading. It's "not part of EU VAT" but also they did implement VAT because they joined Schengen. Many sources seem fuzzy as I guess we're within their transition period. Either way, I don't think I'd risk it when Africa is so close.
 
SimonX said:
Oh, yeah, they Schengened it last year, didn’t they.
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Schengen only applies to people, not boats and VAT rules.

But it is not clear if Spanish authorities recognise Gibraltar as being outside EU waters for VAT purposes. And a lot of this stuff, as Tranona says, is down to the interpretation of the local officials (unless you have a large legal budget and full proficiency in all languages).
 
dunedin said:
Schengen only applies to people, not boats and VAT rules.

But it is not clear if Spanish authorities recognise Gibraltar as being outside EU waters for VAT purposes. And a lot of this stuff, as Tranona says, is down to the interpretation of the local officials (unless you have a large legal budget and full proficiency in all languages).
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There was a company I found advertising doing the checkin/checkout process last year when I first started looking a cruising around Europe and was investigating ways round the 28 month thing. This seems to have bern removed now.
Not an issue now as we are going to buy an EU boat. Maybe.
 
dunedin said:
Schengen only applies to people, not boats and VAT rules.

But it is not clear if Spanish authorities recognise Gibraltar as being outside EU waters for VAT purposes. And a lot of this stuff, as Tranona says, is down to the interpretation of the local officials (unless you have a large legal budget and full proficiency in all languages).
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Damn AI gives this replyIMG_0231.jpeg
Which includes the line “non-EU VAT-paid yachts will still be able to reset their 18-month EU circulation clock by visiting Gibraltar”
But the reference it links doesn’t include it
Gibraltar changes rules for UK tourists
 
SimonX said:
Damn AI gives this reply
Which includes the line “non-EU VAT-paid yachts will still be able to reset their 18-month EU circulation clock by visiting Gibraltar”
But the reference it links doesn’t include it
Gibraltar changes rules for UK tourists
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You might want to check the forum rules on AI and posts.

But the “as a result” in the middle seems rather odd to say the least. The consequences of the first statement might be more likely to mean the opposite of the second statement.
Safer to remove as potentially misleading, methinks
 
I have followed this subject for many years mainly through public sources and the regular stream of threads on the subject. The most common question is the one that started this thread - how are the rules applied. The actual directive and guidance from the EU is not clear and refers only to visiting qualifying boats entering from outside the EU. It does not explicitly state that they have to start from a non EU territory, but logic suggests having evidence of that will satisfy the requirement. However, some states only require evidence of coming from outside territorial waters - Croatia and Italy for example seem to accept GPS evidence of being outside territorial waters. Reports from Germany suggest that a paperwork trail on customs forms showing exit and re-entry is all that is required.

The question in this thread is, if evidence of starting in a non EU territory (that is outside the EU VAT area) is required by local customs, then Cueata and Melilla would seem to be OK. However it is still wise to confirm this with the customs office at the port of entry into the EU rather than rely on logic and blokes on a forum!
 
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