Importing a yacht Q

[Wardy]

What is involved if you purchase a yacht from abroad and bring it back to blighty, inparticular Netherlands?
Do surveys work the same as here? Do you have taxes to pay? Is there any registration ? What will customs say? Or should you just come into some quiet cove under the cover of darkness?

More silly questions, I know!

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[bluevelvet]

Hi, most boats from any EU country should be tax paid,if in doubt consider the tax costs and carry on.I recently bought a boat in Holland and it was surveyed but turned out not to be as the survey suggested. costs/hassle prompted me to sell at a loss.Trying to make claims in your own country are hard enough but in others where English was good enough to buy suddenly is not good enough when probs arrive .Always remember some of the best buys are under your nose Regards John

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[marina95]

I would strongly recommend using a British surveyor. I purchased a yacht from Holland and was disappointed about the amount of detail provided by the Belgian survey.

Other than that, provided that you are able to prove VAT everything is very straightforward and I can't speak highly enough of Joppe brokers in Breskens.

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[Koeketiene]

We bought Yanita in Belgium 3 years ago.

The main thing was VAT, but once that was sorted everything else was straightforward. Re: surveys - you pays your money, you make your choices. On the whole I've found surveys to be a waste of time and money. Most of them (British & overseas) are so non-commital. Surveyors alwas seem to want to cover themselves both ways.

Since Yanita (Etap 38i) was Belgian built & Belgian maintained we contacted the builder, and got a very helpfull answer. Contact the builder, or agent and see what you can find out.

<hr width=100% size=1>Experience is a good teacher, but she sends in terrific bills.

 

[hquinn]

We purchased a yacht in Holland in 2000 we used De Valk Yacht brokerage, we found the survey very much more detailed than a UK survey, they dealt with all the paper work and we could'nt have been more pleased. We would certainly consider our next purchase there.

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[quaelgeist2]

Do surveys work the same as here?
Not quite, the basic service agreement under HISWA, the yacht industry (lobby) association is specific only on key aspects, , i.e. hull, spars, engine. Further detail can be arranged beforehand -> be specific.
Secondly, they usually constitue the basis of compulsary repairs: Dutch standard contract: within certain persentage of value, the seller HAS TO fix certain things).
Quality varies, our surveyor confirmed electronic stuff to be in good order, which (proven!) had not been aboard during his visit - he used the seller's list as starting point...

Do you have taxes to pay?
None, unless the VAT has not been paid yet. A good broker (e.g. van der Valk, where we bought ours, too) will keep an eye on it and only release funds when the seller has provided all paperwork in order.

Is there any registration ?
Yes, but not all boats are registered and the registration has levels, like the British.

What will customs say?
I would hope for you: "Blimey, what a nice boat" Sorry couldn't resist.
Within Europe there is no trouble to be expected.

Or should you just come into some quiet cove under the cover of darkness?
Depends what you bought ;-)

= Get a good broker - one you feel you can trust and who has dealt with international transactions, e.g. van der Valk, who even arranged the Part1 registration change for us through their UK branch !
= Be specific with your surveyor and ideally be aboard during the survey. Decide whether you want a detailed or only structural survey.
= Explicitly state if you want the contract subject to survey and/or finance: A bad broker will tell you that is impossible, but that's rubbish. There is free contracting in NL as much as it is in UK. However, if you don't specify the ususal custom is that your "offer" is fully binding.

good luck
chris

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[ditchcrawler]

I bought a yacht in Holland & found the process painless(I had much good advice from R to R so do a search)The broker I bought through, Bach Yachting were excellent.I had a survey done by a HISWAS registered Dutch surveyor.If you pay in euros use an exchange broker to secure your exchange rate,which they do free of charge including the transfer.SGM-FX Ltd in London 020 7778 0123 come recommended.(www.sgm-fx.com).When you bring your boat back you need specific documentation including proof of purchase,VAT invoice,insurance,registration,International Certificate of Competence & Schengen forms for the crew.,although even the Dutch are confused about this when you fly in & sail out.I had all the documentation & was not asked for any of it when I came out of Ijmuiden.

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[asj1]

I too bought a boat in Holland from Joope brokers in Breskens - mentioned elsewhere in replies - this summer.
Didn't have a survey as the price was low enough - ie not far off the cost in euros that I might have paid in £'s.

VAT may be a slight risk but I can prove the boat was built in the UK and originally sold within the EU before the relevant date in the early 80's (sorry can't rememeber what the date is right now), what I can't prove is that it was still in the EU in 1992?

I didn't have it surveyed as the price was good enough anyway, it was seaworthy enough to cross the North sea (but a lot windier than I wanted !) and I intended to spend 9 months and 50% of the purchase cost in refitting. I may have it surveyed when refitting has finished as this may be neccessary for insurance and will help for re-sale.

The Belgian registration was cancelled by the owner when I bought it, and re-regitstration in the UK was just acase of filling in one form.

The next stage is to get the "Zeebrugge" decal removed !

Andrew

<hr width=100% size=1>Andrew