registering a boat in croatia

[drenluci]

I am looking to buy a cruising sailboat in Croatia, and plan on leaving it there. I am buing it from a private party without a broker. He claims the VAT has been paid and she is sailing under a Croatian flag.
Having never registered a boat outside of US, I am not sure what to expect. And from what I read on various websites and forums, it appears it is not as easy as taking the title to the registry and getting my stickers.
Has anybody had any experience with registering on Croatia.
Do I need anything more than a bill of sale, title and vat certificate?
Is there a governing body that registers the boats?
Is it a quick thing, or is it another bureaucratic nightmare?

 

[Tranona]

Welcome to the forum.

you will almost certainly be able to register the boat in Croatia - they have been encouraging people like you who want to keep their boat there to do that. Suggest you employ a broker or an agent to do the paperwork for you because it is likely to be complicated. Because Croatia only joined the EU a couple of years ago, VAT is an issue because many boats were kept there without paying VAT so on accession they needed to regularise their position. If VAT has been paid, or the boat is exempt because of its age, there will be official paperwork confirming this. Very important that you see this before committing.

 

[RichardS]

You can search the Croatian registry online and check the details for the boat if you know its name or number. I don't think that changing the register to you name is very complicated and you might even be able to do it online with a little help from Google translate but probably best to follow Tranona's advice.

My boat was registered in Croatia but I've re-registered it under the SSR. I'm not clear about the benefits or otherwise of registering in Croatia. I have been told by a fellow forumite that because his boat is Croatian registered he has to abide by the Croatian safety regulations with regard to equipment carried and regular servicing and recording of that equipment.

I have also been advised that foreign registered boats have to pay the Vignette Tax (about £50 pa) and the Sojourn Tax (about £110 pa can be paid for shorter periods based on time spent on the boat) which I do, whereas Croatian registered boats do not have to pay the Sojourn Tax. However, I asked the HM about this a couple of months ago when I went along to pay my taxes and he was quite clear that anyone who spends time on a boat has to pay the Sojourn Tax whatever the registration of the boat, even if they are Croatian and have a Croatian-registered boat.

How many people actually bother paying these taxes is, in my mind, open to question. The only time you will definitely be asked to provide the paperwork is when you clear into or out of Croatia or when you enter a marina. However, this doesn't apply to your own marina who will want to see the paperwork when you first arrive there but, in my case, have never asked for it again. If you were subject to a seach by the Coastguard you would need to produce the paperwork although that doesn't seem to happen often, if at all, as there are thousands of islands and not many Coastguard cutters.

The reason why I'm sceptical about all this, although I personally am not taking any risks, is that the HM office I go to is responsible for about 30 or 40 miles of heavily yacht-inhabited coastline and there is only ever one chap in the office, although he's a really nice guy who welcomes us like old friends, and I've never seen another soul in that office or in the waiting room (which I've never had to use of course!).

Richard

 

[MYS Yachting]

Dear Drenluci,
I'm not sure if you still need any advice and help with your case (i just joined the forum, but if so,i would just like to say that I agree with most that Tranona and RichardS have said.
However,each boat/yacht is different and it needs to be viewed like that.Process can be easy,but you'll certainly need local support.
I'm from Croatia and I've been in the industry for a decade now,so if you'll need any help,feel free to contact me.Subject is to big to cover everything here.
All the best,Maja

 

[RichardS]

Dear Drenluci,
I'm not sure if you still need any advice and help with your case (i just joined the forum, but if so,i would just like to say that I agree with most that Tranona and RichardS have said.
However,each boat/yacht is different and it needs to be viewed like that.Process can be easy,but you'll certainly need local support.
I'm from Croatia and I've been in the industry for a decade now,so if you'll need any help,feel free to contact me.Subject is to big to cover everything here.
All the best,Maja

Hi Maja .... and welcome to the forum.

Could I ask you about the Sojourn tax. As I said in my post above, the Harbour Master in Rogoznica told me that everyone with a boat in Croatia has to pay it, even Croatians, but I've never seen anyone else in his office even though I've been visiting him for the last two years and there are 1000s of boats in the area. Does everyone pay it or is it just me?

Richard

 

[MYS Yachting]

Hi Richard,

Thank you for your welcome

Regarding your question,yes,law about Sojurn tax is very clear about it. This tax applies to all yachts, regardless what flag they are.
Rogoznica is a small port and with less paperwork needed since 2013 it's probobly even less visited by boaters.
However, as you said,one can be stopped at any time and I personally don't think it's worth of risking hessl and fine for couple hundreds of €.
The highest amount of Sojourn tax is for yachts over 20m for 1 year,1700 kn,approx.226€.
Finally,to make you feel a little bit better..I know you aren't the only one paying it for sure,I know a lot of yachts who do it.

I hope this was helpfull,but let me know if you need anything else.

Have a nice weekend!

Maja

 

[Bellacruiser]

You can search the Croatian registry online and check the details for the boat if you know its name or number.

Richard

Sorry for the resurrection of an ancient thread; how does one search the register? Having some questions about a boat for sale, we know the name but nada results at http://plovila.pomorstvo.hr/

I've tried with the last 6 yacht names we chartered in Croatia (all Croatian flagged); I can find one but not the others...is this related to the magical 12m threshold as the one I can find is 45ft, the others all just under 40ft/12m. This would class them as a "boat" not a "yacht" but I cannot find them that way either! Do some have an official number (which I don't have for the yacht in question) and unofficial name?!

 

[RichardS]

Sorry for the resurrection of an ancient thread; how does one search the register? Having some questions about a boat for sale, we know the name but nada results at http://plovila.pomorstvo.hr/

I've tried with the last 6 yacht names we chartered in Croatia (all Croatian flagged); I can find one but not the others...is this related to the magical 12m threshold as the one I can find is 45ft, the others all just under 40ft/12m. This would class them as a "boat" not a "yacht" but I cannot find them that way either! Do some have an official number (which I don't have for the yacht in question) and unofficial name?!

It's many years since I search for my boat but it's registered in the UK now so I can no longer find it anyway. I used to be able to find it although the web interface was different in those days. However, there was something tricky which I used to have to remember when doing the search but I can't remember now what the trick was. It might have been that the Croatian letters with accents were not the same as the UK letters but I really can't remember. What it meant was that I could only find my boat by its name or its registration number, one worked and the other didn't .... but when the information appeared on the screen both the name and number were correct but only one worked.

Sorry

Richard

 

[Bellacruiser]

Thanks Richard. Appreciate the reply as always

Got a boat we’re interested in that’s “VAT paid” and with private owner, broker saying the invoice didn't reference VAT when he bought it but it’s registered to him and Croatian authorities would only have registered it to a private individual if they were satisfied VAT had been settled/registry may show this.

Broker also saying we can obtain T2L but at this rate we’ll say that the seller can get a T2L of their own first before any contract/deposit or we’ll walk/offer commensurate with it being non-VAT paid ie 25% less!