EU vat paid?

[marsbar]

I live in Portugal and have Portuguese residency. I’m looking at a boat that is registered in Belgium, the owner bought it New in South Africa in 2003 and has had it registered in Belgium since then. I have asked the broker for proof of EU vat paid but am not convinced by the document he has sent me. The Portuguese are sticklers for paperwork. How can I get confirmation the document is sufficient proof of vat paid? I have contacted the Portuguese authorities by email but had no response.

 

[Tranona]

Depends on what the "document" is. Registration is completely irrelevant. What you need as a minimum is the receipt from customs for VAT and any duty paid on entry into the EU plus evidence of RCD compliance and a CE mark, either from the builder, or if it was not built to the RCD a post construction certificate. Without these two documents the boat cannot be legally sold in the EU (and the owner/importer has committed a criminal offence).

 

[Graham376]

Are you planning on putting it on the Portuguese registry? If so, to check the validity of all the documents take copies down to the Capitania and ask them.

 

[marsbar]

CE and RCD are all good. I will take copies of the documents to the Capitania in Portimao as suggested.