Importing my boat into Europe

[hideaway]

I am thinking of sailing my boat back to Europe from the USofA and would like any and all information that I can find as to how and where taxs and dues are paid. Is there any one who works for Customs out there.

 

[LadyJessie]

It is not really possible to answer that question without knowing a lot more about your situation. Most importantly (but not exclusively) what has been your resident status in the US and for how long and what will be your new resident status in the EU.

I suggest you search on the "liveaboard" forum for keywords like "VAT, tax, importation" and you will find a lot. Not all will be applicable, or indeed correct, but you at least will probably know more about what you don't know and need to ask about.

I contributed to the thread titled "VAT on return to UK?", search for that it will cover some of the issues you will have.

And BTW: don't rely on the customs guys to give you the best information. Remember they are the guys trying to take as much money away from you as possible. There are lots of good independent advisers out there that you can use. Importing a yacht is not something the customs guys always have come across before so they might not give you the correct answer.

 

[JREdginton]

And it's not just VAT. If the vessel is to stay in EU water RCD (Recreational Craft Directive) comes into force and it is not just systems on the vessel. It covers getting a 'Post Contruction Certification' completed, not cheap, covers construction, stability, size of ports, location of opening and so and on and on... and you will even need to produce an 'Operator/Owners' manual to EC specifications! Bizarre but true. Try a web search for the RCD and be amazed /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif there is one little ray of hope, if the vessel has been a visitor to EU waters in the past and this can be proved you will be able to get around the RCD but not the VAT. On VAT, it will be worth shopping around for the lowest levels, currently I think this may be the Azores, but please check, it could get your VAT down from 21% (UK) to around 6% by stopping in Horta and paying your VAT there.

 

[Sybarite]

I am not going to say what is possible but rather to point out some of the pit-falls which you need to carefully research. I used to work for one of the big accounting firms and asked a tax partner for his analysis of the tax risk for importing a boat into France. He got it completely wrong. Luckily it was only a dinghy.

There is much misunderstanding of VAT mechanisms even some by those who administer it - here I am speaking of the French Douane.

There is also much perceived knowledge on the subject including the assertion that the VAT rate in the Azores is 6% instead of 15%. In fact the European Union has imposed a minimum 15% VAT rate in member states.

Importing into some countries eg Spain might trigger taxes other than VAT.

Some people play on the value of the boat rather than on the tax rate. However the authorities may have a pre-emptive right to buy the boat at the value you declare and then resell it at market value. (Again the case in France).

Here are some more examples of complexities in France :

Although the tax rate is 19.6% in France if you acquire a boat that is registered as a Catégorie A (unlimited ocean cruising) it is deemed to spend half of its time outside of territorial waters; AND, if the purchase is financed though a capital lease, the VAT rate applied to the lease payments is halved . This used to the situation under the old Catégorié 1 – there were 6 categories the first being those boats authorized to go more than 200 miles from a port. However there are only two categories today. It is therefore “considered” that the authorities would look at the old rules to see if a particular boat complied. It also used to apply only to new boats but it may possibly be negotiable for imported boats because VAT would be payable for the first time. Where a lease agreement includes the exercise of a final purchase option some tax inspectors consider this to be the “real” cost of the boat and when you resell it you risk a large capital gains tax assessment.

Not easy.


John

 

[hideaway]

Thank you I have downloaded those pages and will read and ponder. Bye the bye I hauled my anchor this morning and had a heck of a time, the chain jerked free and there was a Danforth in the chain. That is a tamdem anchor.