Used Bayliner import to uk, will i pay duty?

J

Johnny T

New Member
Joined
7 Jan 2011
Messages
6
Visit site
Hi Everyone.

I purchased a 2002 Bayliner 2855 in Florida.

The boat cost me £19k and shipping from USA to UK is £3k plus my fare while in the States £2k That is a total of £24k spent.

The same boat in Uk will cost £40k so will i save money, or be hit hard at UK customs?

My question is:

What amount of customs duty will i expect to pay on the craft on arrival to UK?

Many thanks in advance.

John

PS. I MEANT TO ADD THAT THE BOAT HAS BEEN RE-ENGINED WITH A YANMAR DIESEL (NEW)
 
Last edited:
Quite a bit, lets see:

Depends on the commodity code for import duty but expect around 2.5% + 20% vat on the total.

£24k + 22.5% = £29400

Add to that the modifications and CE marking required to legally use it in the UK, approx £2k.( no getting round this as it will be illegal to sell or use it if you don't)

So It will eventually cost around £31400 for a CE marked grey Import, you may be lucky when you sell and break even.

Don't confuse asking price UK for eventual sale price, my guess would be you might have secured a UK boat for the same without the hassle, yours will always be worth less than the equivalent UK supplied boat.

Not trying to be alarmist but we know of an imported crownline that's had little interest even though it's very competitively priced, it's immaculately presented and has virtually no hours but it's been on the market for 12 months +.

Something like this from the UK main Bayliner agents, don't forget this is asking price, ballpark 10% reduction is not unreasonable as an opening offer.
http://www.boatshop24.co.uk/MjI1NDQzOTN+d2RhYzAx=-Bayliner_2855.html

More info here on calculation of Duty & Vat;
http://www.ukimports.org/how_to_calculate_uk_import_duty_vat.html
 
Last edited:
enterprise said:
Don't confuse asking price UK for eventual sale price, my guess would be you might have secured a UK boat for the same without the hassle, yours will always be worth less than the equivalent UK supplied boat.

Hi Enterprise, not challenging what you're saying i'm sure you know what your'e talking about, I'm just curious why, if the boat were to be Ce marked and vat paid etc. why would it be worth less than a uk model if it met uk requirements?
Click to expand...
 
enterprise said:
Quite a bit, lets see:

Depends on the commodity code for import duty but expect around 2.5% + 20% vat on the total.

£24k + 22.5% = £29400

Add to that the modifications and CE marking required to legally use it in the UK, approx £2k.( no getting round this as it will be illegal to sell or use it if you don't)

So It will eventually cost around £31400 for a CE marked grey Import, you may be lucky when you sell and break even.

Don't confuse asking price UK for eventual sale price, my guess would be you might have secured a UK boat for the same without the hassle, yours will always be worth less than the equivalent UK supplied boat.

Not trying to be alarmist but we know of an imported crownline that's had little interest even though it's very competitively priced, it's immaculately presented and has virtually no hours but it's been on the market for 12 months +.

Something like this from the UK main Bayliner agents, don't forget this is asking price, ballpark 10% reduction is not unreasonable as an opening offer.
http://www.boatshop24.co.uk/MjI1NDQzOTN+d2RhYzAx=-Bayliner_2855.html

More info here on calculation of Duty & Vat;
http://www.ukimports.org/how_to_calculate_uk_import_duty_vat.html
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, So will i be paying the VAT on my other expenses? Like the travel, shipping etc ect? I thought only on the purchase cost of the boat.

Just to add. If the boat arrives to UK without CE Marking, do the customs hold it while the examinations are being done? Then release after? This could mount up costs as they may charge for storage. Maybe i should have the CE done in US.

Thanks in advance,
John
 
Last edited:
Just a suggestion Johnny - why not leave the Binliner in Florida?
Then you can use her out there for what is left of the winter, and then perhaps sell her at some stage, and hopefully not lose too much on the sale.

I cannot see the reason for shipping the boat over to England, especially if you already have a Princess there (or almost there!).

And especially when I think of all the potential hassles you will have, not to mention expense - as folk have posted above, it is doubtful that you will profit from it, never mind that the boat might appear to be 'cheap' in Florida compared to Britain.

Re duties, here they apply the duty and VAT to the landed CIF value where CIF stands for purchase cost, insurance and freight - I guess they probably do the same in Britain as well.

OR - you wouldn't happen to be doing a wee bit of trolling would you? :)
 
Aahhh, a new Yanmar diesel, you should have said earlier; in that case you could fill up a couple of 45 gal drums and drive it back(keep it below 45 though what with fuel to conserve etc), turn up in UK and say nothing, I'm sure we won't say anything if you don't.
(ps take your tomtom as there's a big triangle shape thing to avoid when exiting the Florida turn off.)
 
boatmaster said:
enterprise said:
Don't confuse asking price UK for eventual sale price, my guess would be you might have secured a UK boat for the same without the hassle, yours will always be worth less than the equivalent UK supplied boat.

Hi Enterprise, not challenging what you're saying i'm sure you know what your'e talking about, I'm just curious why, if the boat were to be Ce marked and vat paid etc. why would it be worth less than a uk model if it met uk requirements?
Click to expand...

Because it is an imported, non uk suplied boat, no other reason.
Put a UK boat next to the import at the same price, which one would 90% of the interested buyers look at first?
Click to expand...
 
Duty on imported boats

Just wondering, when we refer to paying duty on imports. is it actually duty that is paid (in the same way as alcohol and cigarettes etc) and as previously suggested earlier in this post, duty paid then vat on top of that?or are we confusing duty with with vat?
 
Why, oh why, do people continue to bash imported boats when a properly converted and out-of-warranty import is more likely than not to be identical to, or even better than, an officially imported one?

Duty on boat with I/O drive is 1.7%, from memory. And VAT. On purchase price and transport costs.

I had quotes for CE of a Bayliner 285 for £850 and £950 respectively from two different agencies. Both are still around, just do your homework and negotiate.

Transport at £3k is expensive, even if it includes US shipping, cradle, agent fees, loading, unloading, shrinkwrap, etc. You should get change from £2k for all of this, assuming the boat's going less than 1/2 day's transport from where it arrives.
 
Last edited:
boatmaster said:
Just wondering, when we refer to paying duty on imports. is it actually duty that is paid (in the same way as alcohol and cigarettes etc) and as previously suggested earlier in this post, duty paid then vat on top of that?or are we confusing duty with with vat?
Click to expand...

Most imported goods attract import duty, the rates vary. It is charged on the cost of the goods and the transport/shipping, then VAT is added to the whole lot.
 
EugeneR said:
Why, oh why, do people continue to bash imported boats when a properly converted and out-of-warranty import is more likely than not to be identical to, or even better than, an officially imported one?

Duty on boat with I/O drive is 1.7%, from memory. And VAT. On purchase price and transport costs.

I had quotes for CE of a Bayliner 285 for £850 and £950 respectively from two different agencies. Both are still around, just do your homework and negotiate.

Transport at £3k is expensive, even if it includes US shipping, cradle, agent fees, loading, unloading, shrinkwrap, etc. You should get change from £2k for all of this, assuming the boat's going less than 1/2 day's transport from where it arrives.
Click to expand...


Nothing wrong with a personal import but it's never going to be just about the savings compared to uk equivalents.
You have outlined the direct costs involved which closes the price gap considerably but this doesn't include the depreciation and final sale cost to the importer/owner when the time comes to sell on.

Try and part ex an import to find out how receptive they are, alternatively sell private but again it will have to be at a saving to the purchaser or there would be no point, as it's taking an unknown finacial risk further down the ownership chain.

The boats are the same granted but why take a risk with an import when a UK supplied boat is much the same price when all said and done.
If it were straight forward with money to made in high figures why don't you think the UK market has been flooded with them?
 
enterprise said:
Nothing wrong with a personal import but it's never going to be just about the savings compared to uk equivalents.
You have outlined the direct costs involved which closes the price gap considerably but this doesn't include the depreciation and final sale cost to the importer/owner when the time comes to sell on.
Click to expand...

From what I have seen, properly converted imports often go for at least 50% more than what they cost to import and convert.

enterprise said:
Try and part ex an import to find out how receptive they are
Click to expand...

I have. One official dealer offered me the going UK trade-in rate, knowing the boat was a personal import but that it was converted in a way that made it identical to officially imported boats. Another dealer for a different brand offered me 25% less - low, until you realise that it was above the total cost of the boat three years before.

enterprise said:
If it were straight forward with money to made in high figures why don't you think the UK market has been flooded with them?
Click to expand...

Most people prefer to buy something they can see and touch rather than to take risks with what most see as a large investment. Also, it takes effort and know-how to do it well and few people can to afford to learn from such experience i.e. importing a 2nd and 3rd boat.

Despite that, many people seem to be doing it - many as a business. There was a time just before the recession when I counted more people importing boats regularly than there were official dealers for some brands. And they appeared to do be doing a lot more boats than what official dealers were doing. Some are still going, today.

Personally, I can tell when some US makes have been personally imported because of minor differences in what the various CE bodies require. My own rough estimate is that at least 10% of brands such as Bayliner, Sea Ray and Monterey have been personally imported.

Of course, when boats have not been properly converted e.g. 110v appliances or huge transformers, or when there are not official importers to provide parts, they will struggle to sell and could remain unsold for years.

So, who knows - perhaps the market is flooded with imported boats but we just don't know it, because they achieve the same prices as officially imported boats unless they are obviously not identical to UK specification?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top