import

[maco56]

Hi, boat owner & member of Port of Yamba Yacht Club, NSW, Australia. Thinking of buying a used sailboat from east coast USA to sail to western isles of Scotland and onto the med. Could use some information on international buying regarding taxes,gst regestration on bringing it into the UK for a couple of years. Originally i am from Scotland and still retain a British passport if that helps with regestration. Boat i'm looking at is the Hinckley b-40 yawl,well built to classic lines. Any information on the boat would also be apreciated. thanks, look forward to hearing from you, Maco..

 

[DownWest]

You need very good advice on this. Mainly because of the recreational craft directive. If you also have an OZ passport, it might be best to act as a visitor and not register it in the EU, the cost of RCD complience (and value added tax) could be a big discouragement to the idea. Can you register a boat in OZ without it being there? Taxes? Read the first line again.
A
This is a regular post, try searching under VAT, RCD.
Some of the islands in the Atlantic have low VAT, but you still have the RCD.

 

[Tranona]

Very straightforward for a non-EU resident. You can apply for temporary importation of the boat as a visitor into the EU at your port of entry. If granted you can move around the EU without any difficulty, but there are limitations about how you use the boat, and you cannot sell it in the EU which does not normally cause any problems for genuine visitors. At the end of your stay you must take the boat out of the EU. It is not easy to sell a US built boat in the EU as it needs to meet EU standards - more bureaucratic and expensive to gather evidence and make the required mods, than anything plus pay VAT.

Suggest you go onto the RYA site www.RYA.org which has a wealth of information on cruising in the EU. It is aimed at UK boat owners, but the section on VAT covers the basics of temporary importation with a link to the detail in the HMRC Notice Number 8. For obvious reasons it is perhaps easier to make an entry into the EU via the UK, but the rules are the same in principle across the union.

You and your crew will of course need to organise your own visas for the countries you intend visiting, but this is relatively simple as most are signatories to the Shengen treaty.

 

[maco56]

Thanks Downwest & Tranona, information much apreciated.What ever happened to the simple life..Maybe regestering the boat in the USA & travelling on Australian passport could be an easier option, or does the boat have to be regestered in your country of residence? What are the main differences between USA/rest of the world & EU built boats, i thought a sailboat was a sailboat. Apart from the voltage in their electrics & some differance in engine manufacture their build quality & standards are very high.Would buying a UK built, but foreign regestered boat create the same problems? Thanks again, Maco..

 

[Tranona]

Thanks Downwest & Tranona, information much apreciated.What ever happened to the simple life..Maybe regestering the boat in the USA & travelling on Australian passport could be an easier option, or does the boat have to be regestered in your country of residence? What are the main differences between USA/rest of the world & EU built boats, i thought a sailboat was a sailboat. Apart from the voltage in their electrics & some differance in engine manufacture their build quality & standards are very high.Would buying a UK built, but foreign regestered boat create the same problems? Thanks again, Maco..

not sure there really are any problems for a visitor. The problems only start if you want to permanently import the boat into the EU where there are barriers, just the same as there are barriers to moving in as a person.

If you are a visitor there is nothing to stop you buying a boat in the US, registering it in NZ and entering the EU as a visitor. Needs a bit of paperwork, but once you have that you are free to move around - just not stay permanently!

Many people do it - you just need an exit plan for you and the boat when time comes to move on.