Importing boat from Scandinavia

[tetleys]

I am looking at buying a larger boat, probably another Windy, and see a few for sale in Sweden & Norway.

Is anyone able to confirm how the VAT status works when importing from Scandinavia to uk ?

Cheers

Tetleys

 

[gjgm]

I am looking at buying a larger boat, probably another Windy, and see a few for sale in Sweden & Norway.

Is anyone able to confirm how the VAT status works when importing from Scandinavia to uk ?

Cheers


Tetleys

Used? Well Sweden is EU, so there should be no VAT in importing. Norway is EEA, so not sure on that, but with the tax levels on boats in Norway, are prices in range?

 

[tetleys]

Definitely used, prices certainly a lot better than a few years ago due to exchange rates , Sweden obviously looking a lot better based on information above.
With so few Windys about you start to look further afield

 

[Divemaster1]

Sweden & Denmark is EU... Norway is not, so you would pay import tax and VAT if importing from Norway, irrespective of tax status in Norway (that is how it works when importing from the UK to Norway, so Norway being in EEA does not give you same import freedom as when buying from within EU).

 

[A_8]

Perhaps not helpful or relevant but many Norwegians buy their boat ex vat and keep it in Sweden, that way they avoid paying vat on their boats.

 

[Divemaster1]

Perhaps not helpful or relevant but many Norwegians buy their boat ex vat and keep it in Sweden, that way they avoid paying vat on their boats.

Which means that the cannot stray into Norwegian territorial waters at any time....

 

[gjgm]

Perhaps not helpful or relevant but many Norwegians buy their boat ex vat and keep it in Sweden, that way they avoid paying vat on their boats.

Well might be important...if the boat is not VAT paid in EU, bringing it into Uk might be expensive..

 

[Tranona]

Well might be important...if the boat is not VAT paid in EU, bringing it into Uk might be expensive..

But if VAT has not been paid anywhere the cost is likely to be lower than buying a tax paid boat in Norway and then paying VAT again on import into the EU.

 

[A_8]

Which means that the cannot stray into Norwegian territorial waters at any time....

That explains all the Norwegian boats we have in the Northern part of the Swedish west coast...

 

[A_8]

All things equal it should be cheaper to buy a non vat boat from a Norwegian owner keeping their boat in Sweden but I think you will find that the Swedish owned boats still costs less.

 

[gjgm]

But if VAT has not been paid anywhere the cost is likely to be lower than buying a tax paid boat in Norway and then paying VAT again on import into the EU.

...if you understood VAT had not been paid. I for one did not know Norwegians kept boats in Sweden VAT free, whereas I guess Swedes do not . I suspect there are not enough Windys for sale of same/similar year to make a pricing discrepency necessarily obvious.

 

[Tranona]

...if you understood VAT had not been paid. I for one did not know Norwegians kept boats in Sweden VAT free, whereas I guess Swedes do not . I suspect there are not enough Windys for sale of same/similar year to make a pricing discrepency necessarily obvious.

I have my doubts about that as well, but the principle is correct. All the OP can do is look at what is available and do the sums.

 

[Spi D]

For boats in Sweden and Denmark VAT is well documented both when purchased as new and by the 'tax-man' (for ever..).

The majorority (by far) of boatd are VAT paid.

Within the EU goods can move freely and VAT need to paid once only, usually in the country where it was first sold. Goods from outside the EU will have to be imported and duty + VAT paid. If VAT already paid in country outside the EU the exporting party might be able to get some back, but you as the importer will have to pay, based on the price paid for the boat (and transport etc.).


I've done this within the EU a number of times. Easy...
Once from the US. Time consuming and frustrating, Financial surprises lurking 8:]. Tend to spend too much that doesn't actually go into the boat purchase.

 

[tetleys]

Thanks for your all your replies, much appreciated and now my way forward is a lot clearer

cheers
Tetleys

 

[spannerman]

Bear in mind the Norwegian kroner is very weak against the pound right now around 12.5kr>£1 whereas a year ago it was around 10kr>£1, so Norwegian boats may be more affordable. Norwegian VAT is 25%, and we have up to a year ago payed horsepower tax which was about £20 per H.P. so that made the initial purchase price much higher, although that tax has been removed now to boost slumped boat sales.
You won't go far wrong with a Windy I have driven them all up to the 52footer and they are in a class of their own when it comes to build and sea keeping. Just make sure the engines have a good service history especially if they have KAD 44 or 300's as these are time consuming and difficult to adjust the valves on with certain models and it often gets skipped. The clue is that the paint around the injector pipe unions and leak off rail is chipped as these have to be removed to get the rocker cover off, and some cowboys bend the injector pipes to save work but this is shown up by cracked paint where the pipes cross over the top of the engine.

 

[Spi D]

..we have up to a year ago payed horsepower tax which was about £20 per H.P. so that made the initial purchase price much higher..

Also made many choose well under the max. recommended hp for boats.

 

[Hugin]

many Norwegians buy their boat ex vat and keep it in Sweden, that way they avoid paying vat on their boats.

How is that even possible?

When you buy something in Sweden you pay 25% VAT regardless if you are a company or a private person, foreigner or local. If buing as a company either using the boat as an operative asset, selling the boat on or exporting it outside EU then you can have the VAT refunded. If you keep the boat in Sweden as a private individual then I can't see how you can redeem VAT. Is there a specific trick to accomplish this?

 

[A_8]

How is that even possible?

When you buy something in Sweden you pay 25% VAT regardless if you are a company or a private person, foreigner or local. If buing as a company either using the boat as an operative asset, selling the boat on or exporting it outside EU then you can have the VAT refunded. If you keep the boat in Sweden as a private individual then I can't see how you can redeem VAT. Is there a specific trick to accomplish this?

I can't claim to know the details or being a vat expert in any way but as far as I understand or should I say how the rumor goes they buy them ex vat to start with, they typically don't buy them in Sweden just keep them there close to the Norwegian border. There are no registry demands in Sweden so you can be completely incognito as far as the Norwegian taxman finding you.

I assume they find a plus vat boat, either new or one that has been used in a business, do some paperwork stating the boat will be exported to a non eu country so that the seller can sell ex vat. The boat then never enters that country and sort of is always on route to its final destination but never get there.
Thinking about it, it was actually offered to me by a UK seller even though I am in the EU, don't remember the details now but it was stated that there were some paperwork I could fill out so that the seller could exclude vat on the transaction.
I am sure others on here know the vat rules between countries very well and it would be interesting to understand this better, perhaps its just a Swedish tall story because of all the Norwegian boats being permanently berthed in Swedish harbors close to the Norwegian border.

 

[Hugin]

I can't claim to know the details or being a vat expert in any way but as far as I understand or should I say how the rumor goes they buy them ex vat to start with, they typically don't buy them in Sweden just keep them there close to the Norwegian border. There are no registry demands in Sweden so you can be completely incognito as far as the Norwegian taxman finding you.

I don't know the details of the Swedish VAT system, but my understanding is that it is very similar to the Danish which I am familiar with....... and it is just not possible for a private individual to buy ANYTHING legally without VAT. If you buy from outside EU then you are basically moving goods into the EU and would have to pay the VAT when the boat crossed the border.

I assume they find a plus vat boat, either new or one that has been used in a business, do some paperwork stating the boat will be exported to a non eu country so that the seller can sell ex vat. The boat then never enters that country and sort of is always on route to its final destination but never get there.

Seems to be a fraudulent practice....... I'm sure the Swedish tax man would be very motivated to find these boats in perpetual transit and slap both a hefty VAT sticker and a fine on the owners. Easy money for the Swedish Government I would think. However, I don't think even creative paperwork would allow the seller to sell without VAT regardless. Only if the boat was sold to a non-EU VAT registered company would it be possible to sell ex VAT and I'm pretty sure the seller would eventually be required to document the boat was moved out of the EU.

Have you noticed how US based companies recently started adding EU VAT on your online software purchases even though no goods are moved..... unless you provide a valid EU VAT-number?...... the tax man - or should we call it VAT-man - has mighty long arms these days; it's virtually impossible to legally get around paying the VAT.

 

[sap_2000]

The Norwegian owned boats in Sweden are in 99% of the cases a former tax paid EU boat bought 2nd hand.
They do it that way for not have to pay 25% vat on import to Norway, but as stated above never can enter Norwegian waters.

That being said the number of boats kept in in Sweden are not so high as you can get the impression from reading this thread.

Some bigger 50 ft+ boats are company owned and can be sold incl Norwegian vat which can be refunded on export.
Same we do when buy new or used company owned boats in EU.