boatfun
New Member
Hello
I am currently trying to buy a boat that was imported into to the EU in 2006/2007. The boat was originally made outside the EU.
The previous owner purchased the boat and sailed it into the EU, used it for a while and then for the last 2 years it has sat on the hard and now requires quite a lot of work on the boat. The boat was manufactured in 2002 and is on the UK part 3 ships register.
The problem lies that the owner of the boat has no proof of paying import vat on the boat.
When he bought the boat, the company that owned it was an american company and the bill of sale obviously does not say anything about VAT on it, he paid cash at the time of purchase he has proof of this. He is also English and will be selling me the boat as an individual so he will not be charging me VAT on the bill of sale as he is not VAT registered.
From my understanding he then should have paid import VAT when the boat arrived in the EU, he can not prove he did though and I am suspecting that he knows that he did not pay it, which worries me as if I take it from where it is now into another EU country they may try to get me to pay import VAT when I arrive. As it was over 6 years ago even HMRC do not keep records this long so how do you win and protect yourself in this matter?
I really like the boat but do not want to end up with a hefty bill when travelling around Europe. I was due to be paying a deposit today. All help much appreciated.
I am currently trying to buy a boat that was imported into to the EU in 2006/2007. The boat was originally made outside the EU.
The previous owner purchased the boat and sailed it into the EU, used it for a while and then for the last 2 years it has sat on the hard and now requires quite a lot of work on the boat. The boat was manufactured in 2002 and is on the UK part 3 ships register.
The problem lies that the owner of the boat has no proof of paying import vat on the boat.
When he bought the boat, the company that owned it was an american company and the bill of sale obviously does not say anything about VAT on it, he paid cash at the time of purchase he has proof of this. He is also English and will be selling me the boat as an individual so he will not be charging me VAT on the bill of sale as he is not VAT registered.
From my understanding he then should have paid import VAT when the boat arrived in the EU, he can not prove he did though and I am suspecting that he knows that he did not pay it, which worries me as if I take it from where it is now into another EU country they may try to get me to pay import VAT when I arrive. As it was over 6 years ago even HMRC do not keep records this long so how do you win and protect yourself in this matter?
I really like the boat but do not want to end up with a hefty bill when travelling around Europe. I was due to be paying a deposit today. All help much appreciated.
