VAT Again

[kohaku]

I bought my boat while an expat in the Gulf and have owned it several years.
I know that cars can be imported without attracting VAT if owned for more than a year previously.
Does the same apply to a boat?

 

[miket]

No.

Believe VAT payable on current value of boat.
Basis of valuation presumably open to question !!

 

[Guest]

I think you will be able to bring it back, with exactly the same tax reliefs that apply to cars. You may find that a far bigger problem is compliance with the small craft directive - basically you can't sell a boat in the EU which does not comply with the directive. I am no expert on the subject, but I have tried to research it a bit myself and this is my understanding. I asked similar questions in a post a couple of weeks ago!

Will

 

[kohaku]

Thanks guys. It'll be 3 years before I get there but at this rate maybe never. Just got my paperwork done, ready to go, and then I fell down and cracked a rib!

 

[roger]

I regret to say that the pain in your ribs is probably nothing compared with the pain of trying to import into the EU.
As I understand it your boat must comply with the recreational craft Directive RCD when it first enters the EU. Compliance is a complex matter involving various aspects of boat design. It may be impracticable to make your boat comply.

Roger

 

[polarity]

Re: RC - @#*~€ - D

Depending on your Timing and EXACTLY where you were...:

Where a boat had been constructed, placed on the market or put into service in the present
EEA Member States prior to full application of the Directive, then the requirements of the
Directive do not apply if the boat is brought back into the EEA after the 16th June 1998.
For the purposes of this section the "EEA" is considered to include not only "EEA" States
but also their overseas territories and dependencies to which Community Law applies.

From here http://www.conformance.co.uk/CE_MARKING/ce_boat_guide.html