Is VAT payable in the UK on a boat imported from another EU Country

[Marilyn Crook]

I have been told by a dealer that if I purchase a boat from another EU Country and pay VAT in that country, I do not have to pay VAT in the UK as well.

Would I then just pay VAT on the shipping?

Sorry if this has been asked before, I did look through the forum but could only find details about VAT on Non EU bought boats.

 

[alant]

I have been told by a dealer that if I purchase a boat from another EU Country and pay VAT in that country, I do not have to pay VAT in the UK as well.

Would I then just pay VAT on the shipping?

Sorry if this has been asked before, I did look through the forum but could only find details about VAT on Non EU bought boats.

Dealer is correct.

 

[CLB]

Are you talking about a new boat?

If so, yes the dealer is correct.

If it's a used boat it will depend if the boat is deemed VAT paid already within the EU.

When you pay to have the boat shipped, that should include VAT so no more VAT will be required when landed in the UK.

 

[Marilyn Crook]

Are you talking about a new boat?

If so, yes the dealer is correct.

If it's a used boat it will depend if the boat is deemed VAT paid already within the EU.

When yiu pay to have teh Jay shipped, that should include VAT so no more VAT will be required when landed in the UK.

That's great, thank you.

It will be a new boat, would Import Duty be payable?

 

[Nigelpickin]

Dealer is correct.

Definitely??
I’ve just bought a new boat, (French), ex VAT and paid VAT in the customs office at Faro, (portugal); which is where the vessel will he based - for the time being.
This is because in Portugal at least, if the boat is new, (regardless of EU country of origin), if it’s being kept in PT, that’s where the VAT goes. If I’d paid the VAT in France and landed the boat in PT, PT would insist that I pay VAT again and reclaim the previous payment from France. It kind of makes sense because of the varying rates of VAT in the EU.

I’d check with to make absolutely sure and pay VAT in U.K. if possible

 

[CLB]

Definitely??
I’ve just bought a new boat, (French), ex VAT and paid VAT in the customs office at Faro, (portugal); which is where the vessel will he based - for the time being.
This is because in Portugal at least, if the boat is new, (regardless of EU country of origin), if it’s being kept in PT, that’s where the VAT goes. If I’d paid the VAT in France and landed the boat in PT, PT would insist that I pay VAT again and reclaim the previous payment from France. It kind of makes sense because of the varying rates of VAT in the EU.

I’d check with to make absolutely sure and pay VAT in U.K. if possible

That is not how the common market is supposed to work. Freedom of movement applies to goods, as well as people.

 

[Nigelpickin]

That is not how the common market is supposed to work. Freedom of movement applies to goods, as well as people.

4.1
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...r-pleasure-craft-to-and-from-the-uk#section41

 

[jfm]

Heck. You give nowhere enough info in the first post, and then people assume a lot or go by what's written on the net and the answers above are at least half wrong

From what is written above, the dealer is maybe wrong and you maybe WILL be liable for uk vat because the boat will be a "new means of transport" but you don't give enough detail to be sure. Write a long post with all the detail (location of dealer, precise details of boat including LOA and hours clocked, because all these things affect the answer so people who have answered without knowing the LOA do not know their onions) then you can get a good reply.

There will be no uk import duty. It's only VAT that you need to get right.

 

[Marilyn Crook]

Heck. You give nowhere enough info in the first post, and then people assume a lot or go by what's written on the net and the answers above are at least half wrong

From what is written above, the dealer is maybe wrong and you maybe WILL be liable for uk vat because the boat will be a "new means of transport" but you don't give enough detail to be sure. Write a long post with all the detail (location of dealer, precise details of boat including LOA and hours clocked, because all these things affect the answer so people who have answered without knowing the LOA do not know their onions) then you can get a good reply.

There will be no uk import duty. It's only VAT that you need to get right.

Thank you for your reply.

The boat will be a brand new 26' pontoon boat and bought from Denmark. The purchase price is including DKK Tax

 

[CLB]

4.1
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...r-pleasure-craft-to-and-from-the-uk#section41

Well you live and learn:

3.17 What if I paid tax in the Member State of supply?
The supply of the NMT should be zero-rated and the Member State of supply will have rules in place similar to those in the Notice. You will need to confirm the exact procedures to be followed with the supplier. Note that in some Member States the supplier may take a refundable deposit equivalent to the VAT which is refunded once you have paid the VAT in the destination state.

If you have been incorrectly charged VAT or are having difficulty in obtaining a refund of a deposit taken in another Member State this does no affect the liability to pay VAT in the UK on the acquisition. Recovery of the “overpayment” will need to be taken up with the suppler or the relevant tax authority in that Member State of supply.

That indicates that the supplier should not be charging VAT and supplying the boat zero rated. This is in the op's favour as vat in Denmark is 25%.

Still seems to go against the freedom of movement of goods ethos, but rules is rules.

 

[Nigelpickin]

Well you live and learn:

3.17 What if I paid tax in the Member State of supply?
The supply of the NMT should be zero-rated and the Member State of supply will have rules in place similar to those in the Notice. You will need to confirm the exact procedures to be followed with the supplier. Note that in some Member States the supplier may take a refundable deposit equivalent to the VAT which is refunded once you have paid the VAT in the destination state.

If you have been incorrectly charged VAT or are having difficulty in obtaining a refund of a deposit taken in another Member State this does no affect the liability to pay VAT in the UK on the acquisition. Recovery of the “overpayment” will need to be taken up with the suppler or the relevant tax authority in that Member State of supply.

That indicates that the supplier should not be charging VAT and supplying the boat zero rated. This is in the op's favour as vat in Denmark is 25%.

Still seems to go against the freedom of movement of goods ethos, but rules is rules.

Yup, it’s complicated and potentially expensive if you yet it wrong; I shant give any more advice, based on my first hand experience, for fear of being called out as a numpty, other than the OP should talk to HMRC and confirm their view.

 

[CLB]

for fear of being called out as a numpty,

I think that ship has sailed for me

 

[Nigelpickin]

I think that ship has sailed for me

 

[Bigplumbs]

Thank you for your reply.

The boat will be a brand new 26' pontoon boat and bought from Denmark. The purchase price is including DKK Tax

Using Abbreviations like DKK and PT and in fact any Abbreviations also does not help

 

[TonyR123]

To avoid any possible issues on where my boat is located I pay the vat on where I intend to keep the boat. So in my case I bought the boat via a uk dealer, built in France, vat paid in mallorca.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Using Abbreviations like DKK and PT and in fact any Abbreviations also does not help

Oh, I don't know. Anyone who doesn't understand the abbreviations won't be qualified to offer advice, so it's not a bad way to filter them out.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Oh, I don't know. Anyone who doesn't understand the abbreviations won't be qualified to offer advice, so it's not a bad way to filter them out.

If that is what you believe fine with me

 

[Nigelpickin]

Anyway....
OP, it’d be useful to hear how you get on with the Danish dealer and HMRC, let us know if you are able :encouragement:

 

[jfm]

Thank you for your reply.

The boat will be a brand new 26' pontoon boat and bought from Denmark. The purchase price is including DKK Tax

Ok that's not exactly a huge amount of detail, so I'll assume a few things and I won't tell you what I've assumed (like you, I'll be a bit lazy on the typing).

The boat is a new means of transport and liable only to UK vat not danish vat. However, the supplier is on risk of payment of the danish vat to the danish govt if he hands the boat to you in Denmark and you then fail to physically take it to the uk. So the suppliers t&cs may well say you have to pay him the danish vat amount before he releases the boat to you, and he will then refund it to you once you have proved the export occurred. He might even retain the money for 3 months, or until you prove payment of the uk vat, or something like that.

You must file form 415 with hmrc reporting the import of the boat to the uk, within 14 days of the import. All googleable and see hmrc vat notice 728. You'll get a vat bill from hmrc, payable within 30 days

There could obviously be a period of time for which you are out of pocket for both danish and UK vat, while awaiting that refund, and you'll be taking a credit risk against the danish supplier not the danish government. To solve that you might want to look at hiring the seller's driver to put the boat on the ferry and only then hand you the title paperwork, or something along those lines, but if the supplier wants to hold the danish vat money until you prove payment of the uk vat that isn't going to work. The outcome here will depend on what the danish supplier will agree. If you haven't yet contracted to buy the boat you obviously have more leverage, and Of course you may not even care about this cash flow point.

 

[Nigelpickin]

In my situation I carried the T2L, builders cert, SSR and receipt along with my marina invoice for Portugal berth. Lagoon and Ancasta were happy to stay ex of VAT on the understanding that I supplied them with proof of arrival in Portugal.

My shipment was obviously by sea -

A friend of mine bought a boat from the same dealer, same yard and paid uk VAT at POS, on arrival in Portugal he was duly visited by customs, (the marina send berthing receipts to the customs office for non domestic boats), and he was handed an IVA bill.
As JFM says, it was completely independent of the U.K. payment and it was a case of ‘pay now, how you claim the money back is of no concern to us’

Luckily Ancasta are a grown up company and paid the VAT back immediately and took the admin chores on themselves in terms of the VAT adjustment in their next quarter.