VAT and going abroad

[paul.dlf]

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice regarding vat on a used boat I am about to purchase. I have been advised by the broker that there is no proof that VAT has been paid on the boat, which will make it difficult when i visit France.

As it happens, the first owner of the boat was my father, and so although we have no supporting paperwork, the 'original owner' is easy to contact and keen to help. Could anybody advise on how we obtain proof that VAT has been paid please?

Any help/suggestions/advice gratefully received.

Paul

 

[Tranona]

There is no proof other than the original invoice. While it is annoying not having it you are unlikely to experience any difficulty in visiting France. Be sure you have a copy of the Bill of Sale that shows you bought the boat from a private person in the UK.

For more detailed advice on VAT matters there is a useful section on the RYA Site.

 

[jwilson]

Presumably the boat was built/first sold after 1st April 1973. Prior to then VAT was non-existent in the UK, and if you have evidence that she is older than this she is VAT exempt.

There is no way NOW of legally proving VAT was paid. Even if you had the original moth-eaten water-stained original receipted invoice from he boatyard to your father showing the VAT paid it is not absolute proof, unless you also have a chain of proof of every subsequent sale transaction being within the EU by EU citizens.

If the boat was built 1973-85 there is a way of getting her "deemed VAT paid" status - some form of evidence that she was somewhere in the EU at the stroke of midnight on the last day of 1992. This could be a boatyard, marina or club storage bill (you do keep all 20 year old paperwork don't you!) or more usefully, a letter from a yacht club flag officer on their club letterhead saying "From our club records, the yacht "XTZ" was afloat on a club mooring/ashore in our club compound over the winter of 1992/3.

In practice, it is simply not a problem for older smaller boats. If newish and very high-value, it might be. For some years the RYA asked for people who had problems with VAT to let them know, and the only people who did so (I was told) were those who had genuinely non-VAT paid boats, never the tens of thousands of VAT paid boats whose only VAT documents had been lost, thrown away, forgotten in an attic etc.

Whatever you do, do not waste time calling the HMRC helpline: depending on the call centre operator you get you can get very different and conflicting "advice".

Register the boat in your name on SSR or renew a Part I registration if it is already Part I registered, and sail it .... including to France.

 

[Hadenough]

I couldn't find the original invoice for my old boat either but then one day it mysteriously turned up in the tray of my computers printer

 

[jwilson]

I couldn't find the original invoice for my old boat either but then one day it mysteriously turned up in the tray of my computers printer

I trust it was typed with a battered Remington with a faded ribbon and a wonky T, and didn't have VAT shown at 20%.

What is really annoying is when I see genuine HMRC VAT receipts (for example for privately imported boats) the copy given to the person owning the boat is a flimsy yellow NCR-type carbon copy that fades badly rapidly! And this is supposedly the bit of paper you must supposedly preserve forever.......

 

[Hadenough]

I trust it was typed with a battered Remington with a faded ribbon and a wonky T, and didn't have VAT shown at 20%.

That's the one

 

[westernman]

I trust it was typed with a battered Remington with a faded ribbon and a wonky T, and didn't have VAT shown at 20%.

What is really annoying is when I see genuine HMRC VAT receipts (for example for privately imported boats) the copy given to the person owning the boat is a flimsy yellow NCR-type carbon copy that fades badly rapidly! And this is supposedly the bit of paper you must supposedly preserve forever.......

Mine is pink. And there are three zeros missing off the value! It is written out by hand in a pretty illegible handwriting.
It is a very unimpressive receipt for the large amount of money which the previous owner presumably paid to customs office at Cowes.

 

[Stork_III]

I trust it was typed with a battered Remington with a faded ribbon and a wonky T, and didn't have VAT shown at 20%.

What is really annoying is when I see genuine HMRC VAT receipts (for example for privately imported boats) the copy given to the person owning the boat is a flimsy yellow NCR-type carbon copy that fades badly rapidly! And this is supposedly the bit of paper you must supposedly preserve forever.......

Funny, the reciept for my boat is white with a large red stamp "PAID - Personal Transport Unit HMRC"

 

[jwilson]

Funny, the reciept for my boat is white with a large red stamp "PAID - Personal Transport Unit HMRC"

Presumably the boat was imported when someone was moving back to the UK permanently - the Personal Transport Unit of HMRC usually deals with cars being brought back as personal goods, but has been known to include yachts in the category of goods imported free of VAT. Could well be this one either was VAT paid on leaving the EU, or someone paid the duty on arrival, but if that was the case there should have been a receipt - as I said earlier a flimsy NCR carbon usually.

 

[paul.dlf]

Many thanks indeed for this detailed reply, much appreciated.

Paul