Non EU citizen buying a non EU boat in the EU

[Sailingharmonie]

I am a Canadian citizen and I wish to buy a boat from a UK citizen. There boat is on a Temporary Import Permit in Spain. There boat is EU VAT not paid.

I don't want to end up paying the VAT and other taxes. Waht do we do to complete this sale??
Hope someone has done this before.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

AFAIK you cannot transfer a TA (temporary admission) on a VAT unpaid boat from one owner to another without an export, but I may be corrected on this by someone more knowledgable.

In short, I did the following:

I paid the money and took the boat to a port of entry and checked out of the country - this involved the police (passports/immigration) and the customs (export of VAT unpaid boat) and I sailed off into the sunset - the process took about 3-4 hours.
I re-named the boat at sea, I already had a complete set of new documents prepared in the new name, so the following day I went to a port of entry and checked back in under a new 18 month temporary admission in my name.

No VAT was paid and the whole process was quite straightforward. It would be worth your while arranging the export with a spedition company who know how the system works IMO.

 

[Irish Rover]

I am a Canadian citizen and I wish to buy a boat from a UK citizen. There boat is on a Temporary Import Permit in Spain. There boat is EU VAT not paid.

I don't want to end up paying the VAT and other taxes. Waht do we do to complete this sale??
Hope someone has done this before.

First off citizenship is irrelevant. Residence is the key. I'm assuming the seller is resident outside the EU. What about you?
Some 8 years ago I as a non EU resident bought a VAT unpaid boat in Greece from another non resident. I spoke to customs in advance and asked their advice. They cancelled his TA nd issued me with a new one without the boat ever moving.
My advice would always be talk to the local customs office and do whatever they say.

 

[Tranona]

In theory the sale has to take place outside the EU - the condition of TA is that the boat cannot be sold in the EU without importing it. In practice it is up to local customs and as Irish Rover says some states will effectively take the boat into bond while the sale takes place and the boat re-enters under new ownership. The new owner must be non EY resident and the boat registered outside the EU. You may well find it advantageous to engage a customs agent in Spain to handle this for you.