Paying VAT in the Azores

[Erico]

I have heard that the Azores are a good place to pay VAT if importing a boat from the States as they have a relatively low VAT rate. (I guess it is the same as Portugal) Does anybody know what rate they charge?

Also, I understand that VAT is levied based on the price that the importer paid to buy the goods they want to import. Does this mean that a Bill of Sale showing a relatively - but not ridiculously - low price will be acceptable?

Thanks

Eric

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[Deleted member 478]

The talk amoungst the cruisers is that VAT in Madeira is 12% and the value of your boat is negotiable with the Madeira VAT blokes, mainly because they're very eager to get the VAT paid in Madeira as opposed to some other EU country.

Hope this helps.

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[jfm]

Depends on your end game:

if you just want to pay VAT and that's it, then portugal is lowest rate. However, Spain are reputed to accept low valuations for a boat even if you recently bought it for more - the tax value-assessors use their own depreciation tables. So cash cost could be less in spain

if you plan to recover the VAT, then Portugal will not reimburse, they just give you a credit against future VAT liability. So somewhere else (say UK or IoM) would be better

if the boat is big enough to count as commercial and you get other ducks in a row, best to import into france as first EU port of call, then zero VAT

Quite apart from all this you have CE malarky to worry about. And as to using a low number on the bill of sale, that is fraud and very inadvisable. If found out you could actually go to jail for that in the current climate. On a practical level, the chances of detection might be small, and of course you will meet people in pubs who say they did it and got away with it, but that's cos people in jail aren't allowed to go to the pub

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[Birdseye]

In theory you are not allowed just to pay the vat at a transit port and must pay in your country of residence. Quite how the UK customs would detect that you had paid in Portugal, I do not know.

I am told that the UK customs are very reasonable about valuations.



<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.