VAT on a secondhand engine?

[realslimshady]

Intending to buy a replacement engine from a guy in Eire, which is from an old East German Navy fast patrol boat which has come to him via Holland..just wondering if I'm going to get a nasty shock from HM Customs (or whatever they're called now)?????

 

[pheran]

Is this a private rather than a 'trade' sale? Is so, no VAT is payable.

 

[Tranona]

Exactly. It is the nature of the transaction rather than the object that determines VAT. If he is a registered trader then he has to account for VAT and you should therefore get a receipt that clearly shows the VAT element. It is his responsiblity to account for VAT, not yours. If he is a private individual who is EU resident then no VAT is involved.

 

[Whitelighter]

likewise, if the item has had the VAT paid in Holland or Gemrnay, then regardless of the status of the trader you will not pay any VAT here.

VAT is only payable once inside the EU. There is no import tax on anything within the EU either

 

[realslimshady]

Hmmm ok...well he's got his own company, and I'm trying to arrange to pay his company by credit card, so that I'm covered by the CC company if anything goes wrong...so, as long as I get a receipt specifying a VAT element of the cost, I'll be ok?

 

[Observer]

He may be a VAT registered trader but the sale may nevertheless not be taxable. For example, he may have purchased the goods from a 'non-taxable' person (a private individual or a person who does not make taxable supplies); or he may have purchased the goods from a 'taxable person' who purchased from a 'non-taxable person' (as above).

In any event, as Tranona said, it is the seller's responsibility to account for tax, not yours. You have nothing to concern yourself about. You don't have to obtain a receipt/invoice that shows VAT, it may be inapplicable.

 

[ontheplane]

In the motor trade, you pay VAT on the difference between what you pay for a used car and what you sell it for... i.e. the "profit".

So be careful, there may be a small VAT bill there, who pays it is up to you guys to decide.

 

[Tranona]

So be careful, there may be a small VAT bill there, who pays it is up to you guys to decide.

No, it is the vendor who is responsible for accounting for VAT. There is no obligation for him to show the VAT element on his invoice to the purchaser, only to account for it (to the revenue) if it is a chargeable event.

 

[burgundyben]

Nevermind all that VAT blather, tell us more about the engine?

 

[realslimshady]

http://engines.apolloduck.com/feature.phtml?id=119848
check them out....sexy!