Sailaway VAT Scheme

[Dino]

Spotted this mentioned on Facebook earlier. Does this mean that a secondhand boat can be bought in the UK ex Vat? Will the seller be able to claim back the VAT and will it be the VAT on the sale price or a value determined by HMRC?
It's an odd scheme because it requires the buyer to sail the boat out of the UK. I suppose some larger brokers may offer the scheme. The buyer could arrange to have a boat delivered to a convenient coastal harbour/marina in the UK. Then the owner could sail it to another EU country where they would have to pay VAT and Duty.

Sailaway boats supplied for export outside the UK (VAT Notice 703/2) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

[Hurricane]

IMO, the simple answer is no.
I haven't seen any process for reclaiming VAT that has already been paid - unless you were a business buying from another business in the course of everyday trading.

And, AFAIK, you can't export the boat yourself.

However, you can have a new boat delivered by the supplier to (say) the Channel Islands where no VAT is charged in the first place.
And then, assuming that you aren't an EU resident, sail the boat into the EU using the TA (Temporary Import) rules.
See here:-
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/rules_for_private_boats-faq_en.pdf

 

[superheat6k]

VAT assessment by HMRC can only be done based upon a valid transaction invoice. They cannot 'adjust' the value, but if they felt an invoice was wildly incorrect they could question it as a potential fraud, in which case I expct they could impound a vessel pending investigation.

When I imported my boat from Jersey I had two invoices - one for the boat itself, and another for the secondhand inventory and brokers fees payable in Jersey, as neither qualified for UK VAT. HMRC were quite happy with the declared value of the boat itself and I paid 20% of that value. There was no negotiation on the invoice 20% sum, just as there was no attempt by HMRC to review the value declared.

 

[DanRocksOn]

Can a private buyer in Ireland use the scheme to buy a boat Vat free in the UK ?
Is it only the seller that needs to be VAT registered ?