Moratorium on VAT?

[dina]

Regarding importation of non VAT paid boats into the EU:In Rod Heikell's Med Almanac 2001/2 he says on page112 that there is a notion going about that there will be a general moratorium on VAT particularly in respect of retrospective Vat and temporary importation. Does any one know if there is any truth in this? We are bringing our boat back from Turkey this summer and will be importing it into Spain where we have got the best deal on VAT, but we might leave it till next year if there is a serious posssibility of a moratorium.

 

[lezgar]

VAT and Taxes in Spain

In Spain you have to pay 16% VAT plus 12% tax if your boat is +7.5 meters LOA

 

[30boat]

Madeira might be worth the extra 500 or so miles.VAT there is substantialy lower than in Spain or Portugal and I don't think there are any other taxes .

 

[HaraldS]

Had the same in mind two years ago and gave up because of the huge amount of bureaucracy. And I have friends there and have built a house there. Portugal is probably the world champion in red tape. All officals are very friendly but any such process appears never ending. By the way VAT in Madeira is 12%, I went and paid it in Germany (16%) and registration was very easy.

 

[vyv_cox]

Spanish imports

My son imported a car from Holland into Spain. VAT paid and no additional taxes or duties payable. It took just under six months for the paperwork to be completed, but it contained several mistakes which took another month to rectify. (He speaks Spanish and also has a "hestor" to carry out this kind of admin work on his behalf)

When we did the opposite, Spain to Holland, it took about two weeks, but that required us to have various documents already in our possession, like aliens registration, proof of house occupation, etc. Starting from scratch it would have been a very tedious business.

Taking a car into UK from Holland could hardly be simpler - there is almost no red tape at all. We did the whole job over the phone.

Lowest VAT rate is far from being the only criterion.