Importing 2nd-hand Yacht from USA??

[ds797]

Has anyone experience of importing a 2nd hand yacht from America? I would like to do this and I am interested in finding out what tax (if any) would be payable. The boat I am looking at was built in 1980.

Thanks.

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[Talbot]

There has been a great deal of discussion about this in the past, including posts from an American company on the best way. suggest a trawl through the archives.

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[jamesjermain]

If this will be the first time the boat is imported into Europe, it will be liable for VAT on the assessed value (assessed by Customs and Excise, but usually based on what you paid for the boat). It will also have to be certificated under the RCD and CE marked. New rules about this are coming in which will mean the boat will have to be inspected and passed by an authorised body.This can be expensive and, in association with the payment of VAT, may make a seaming bargain in the US, overpriced once it is in the UK.
A company which specialises in CE work is CEProof in Hamble. More imformation is also posted on the RYA web site: <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.rya.org.uk>http://www.rya.org.uk</A>

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[Twister_Ken]

This sort of question has been asked several times. There is a search facility on the board which will allow you to go back and find previous threads.

Basically, though, you have two problems. One is VAT which must be paid when first bringing a vessel into the EU. Secondly, an imported boat has to conform with the European Recreational Craft Directive. If the boat you are looking at was not in the UK at the time the directive became law it cannot be 'grandfathered', and you have to get RCD approval - expensive & time consuming but there are specialist co's that can help you.

What it seems to mean is that unless the boat you want is a) a gob-smacking bargain or b) unique in some way such that you can't find an equivalent over here, then you are best off forgetting about it.

Anti-competitive? Good Lord no, we're just protecting EU leisure boaters, sir!

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[KipH]

I'd done some thinking along these lines, and for a 4 tonne boat shipping was around US$8000, plus RCD testing around 5000 Euros, and then the VAT on top.
You need a real bargain to make that lot pay.

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[Sybarite]

<< it will be liable for VAT on the assessed value (assessed by Customs and Excise, but usually based on what you paid for the boat) >>

In France the Customs can exercise a preemptive right to purchase the boat from you at the value you declare - this to stop obviously under-valued declarations or complicitous invoices.

John

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[qsiv]

Thats a very, very clever way round the potential problem. Like a fellow I know who always has a clause in businesses he sets up that either partner can nominate a price, and the other can elect to buy or sell at the quoted price. Concentrates the mind on realistic pricing.

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[Bergman]

Re: RCD

Does this mean that a boat built in the UK and exported to USA would have to be RSD inspected if re-imported to UK whilst a sister ship that remained in the UK throughout its life would not need such an inspection?

It sounds illogical

But I suppose that makes it more likely to be true if the EU is involved

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[jonjo]

Re: RCD date limit?

Is there an original date of build limit beyond which the RCD does not apply?

I have watched the price plumet on a US based boat that was originally built in 1984 in Europe for imeediate export to the US.

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[jonjo]

Re: Answer my own question

The following link is well written in plain English and claims that a re-import of a European built yacht is not subject to RCD regulations if built prior to 1998

http://www.bms.com.tr/RCD.htm

Their VAT explanation page is clear as well but I suppose this stuff needs to be verified against official sources. Apparently Trading Standards enforce the RCD regs.

Now if the said US-based yacht was built in Europe by a manufacturer no longer in business how could I prove to trading standards that my newly imported yacht was not built in the US under licence?

Second question, does the man from Trading Standards team up with Customs & Excise and jump on an imported yacht the moment the shipping container touches UK soil? I would expect to pay VAT before the yacht could leave the dockside but hopefully RCD stuff could be negotiated while the boat was being used?

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[stephenh]

James - I am thinking of importing a Contessa 26 built in Canada in the 70s.
Yes, Vat would be payable but would it have to be RCD'ed when all her identical sister boats ( built in the UK ) don't have to be ?

thanks for replies from anyone

Stephen

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