VAT on imported yacht

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DAS

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Slightly different to scenarios I can find online;
My son in law’s father has a trailer sailer in Portugal (USA built Hunter - been there several years). He wishes to give it to my son in law to bring into UK to use here. How does one go about establishing value for VAT payment? Would it be better if he imports and pays VAT then hands it over or vice versa?
 
Welcome

You can submit a value to HMRC based on "market value" - typically one would pay a surveyor to do this for you. However you will probably have difficulty in finding similar boats for sale on which to base this value. However your biggest problem is that the boat will need to be certified to the latest UK standards which may prove both problematic and expensive. If it was given a CE marker under the EU RCD after 1997 then you will need the paperwork for this and get it recertified. If it is pre 1997 then it will need a complete design and construction survey which will probably be impossible and almost certainly uneconomic.

Suggest best leave it where it si - plenty of similar boats available here already.
 
I don't understand why it would need certified to a UK standard for VAT,there are plenty of boats sailing around with no certification it might be different if you want to sell her.
 
David Southward said:
I don't understand why it would need certified to a UK standard for VAT,there are plenty of boats sailing around with no certification it might be different if you want to sell her.
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Because that is the law. All imports must comply with the new UK standard, which is currently the same as the RCD. Effective from 2022. Nothing to do with VAT. Full info on the RYA site
 
David Southward said:
I don't understand why it would need certified to a UK standard for VAT,there are plenty of boats sailing around with no certification it might be different if you want to sell her.
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It's not for VAT; it's for importation. Any boat brought into use in the UK needs to meet the equivalent of the RCD standards prevalent on the day of import. This can be very difficult if the boat was previously in use under "grandfather" rights elsewhere.
 
David Southward said:
As it stands you can design and build your own boat and sail her without meeting any standard it's only when you want to sell her you might have problems
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Not after 5 years from launch. This concession was in the 1997 Directive and has been carried over - but irrelevant to the OPs question
 
AntarcticPilot said:
It's not for VAT; it's for importation. Any boat brought into use in the UK needs to meet the equivalent of the RCD standards prevalent on the day of import. This can be very difficult if the boat was previously in use under "grandfather" rights elsewhere.
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NB the bit in red.
This means RCD II.

This is problematic for old engines. The engines need to meet the new current emissions requirements which are quite stringent. I doubt any engine manufactured before 2010 will meet the requirements.
 
DAS said:
Slightly different to scenarios I can find online;
My son in law’s father has a trailer sailer in Portugal (USA built Hunter - been there several years). He wishes to give it to my son in law to bring into UK to use here. How does one go about establishing value for VAT payment? Would it be better if he imports and pays VAT then hands it over or vice versa?
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I have no doubt all that has been said is true but what might happen in practice may be different.

I think you may be right; it would be better if he brought the boat over for a sailing holiday and then decided to give it to your son in law. If he had a mind your son in law could then prepare a fully documented case for paying VAT on the boat and invite an inspection by the revenue, whilst asking if they prefer payment by cheque of bank transfer.

The payment may well be the end of the matter, the worst case would mean a row, letters to MP's and a return from whence the boat came. The rules as they stand are crackers and they are unlikely to be changed unless they are tested.

.
 
Where did he buy it?
If originally UK bought and VAT paid then would it not qualify for returned goods relief ?
And if EU bought and EU VAT paid, then isn't it covered by the waiver that the RYA negotiated that said boats could be returned by owners until next year.
In any case, i would have the father import into the UK ( where it is no different to any other boat) and then transfer to the son once all that has been resolved.
 
jac said:
Where did he buy it?
If originally UK bought and VAT paid then would it not qualify for returned goods relief ?
And if EU bought and EU VAT paid, then isn't it covered by the waiver that the RYA negotiated that said boats could be returned by owners until next year.
In any case, i would have the father import into the UK ( where it is no different to any other boat) and then transfer to the son once all that has been resolved.
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It does not matter who imports it - the rules are the same. If the father is non UK resident he can use it in the UK under TI rules but once he transfers it to son in law it becomes an import.

The rules are essentially the same as when VAT came in the EU in 1992 and the RCD in 1997 and effectively killed imports of used boats from the US in particular.
 
I am in the market looking for something similar (small trailer sailor?) if he changes his mind about taking it back to UK. I'm based in the Algarve. PM me if he changes his mind.
 
Graham376 said:
If the boat is on SSR (as is the case with many expats) and the current owner takes it back to the UK, chances are no-one is going to be interested in it.
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It is on a trailer so rather difficult to "hide" on a ferry where all traffic goes past customs.
 
Tranona said:
It does not matter who imports it - the rules are the same. If the father is non UK resident he can use it in the UK under TI rules but once he transfers it to son in law it becomes an import.

The rules are essentially the same as when VAT came in the EU in 1992 and the RCD in 1997 and effectively killed imports of used boats from the US in particular.
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Now RCD II - 2013/53/EU.
 
Tranona said:
It does not matter who imports it - the rules are the same. If the father is non UK resident he can use it in the UK under TI rules but once he transfers it to son in law it becomes an import.

The rules are essentially the same as when VAT came in the EU in 1992 and the RCD in 1997 and effectively killed imports of used boats from the US in particular.
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Surely if the father had owned the boat in the UK previously, he could bring it back before June next year without VAT liability. But if sold to son first, the son would not be able to do so
 
I designed and built my catamaran back in 1993 and have sailed here since then. I sailed her to Greece in 2013 and sailed her home for refitting and some modifications 2018. I am thinking of sailing her back to the med next year and I am not sure where I stand with VAT etc if I bring her home after a few years.
 
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