VAT payable on importing 1979 boat?

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Glennosi

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We have a EU registered 1979 HR 352 that we want to bring to and base in the UK this winter. What are the options to be able to do this? Do we have to import and register her on the SSR? If so, specifically, would VAT/ import duty be payable given she is a 1979 boat?
 
We have an Austrian registered 1979 HR 352 that we want to bring to and base in the UK this winter. What are the options to be able to do this? Do we have to import and register her on the SSR? If so, specifically, would VAT/ import duty be payable given she is a 1979 boat?
 
Are you UK resident and was the boat in the EU on Dec 2020? In which case it’s VAT payable on its market value I believe
 
Registration is irrelevant. The only things that matter are its VAT status and your residency. If the boat was in the EU on 31/12 2020 then it is EU VAT paid. If you are resident outside the UK you can bring it in under the Temporary Admission rules for 18 months. If you are UK resident then VAT is payable on its market value (or purchase price if recently purchased) including transport costs if coming by road at 25%. It will also need to be certified to UK standards. Suggest you take professional advice or at least talk to the RYA as you may well find the costs and aggro make it not worth importing an old boat like this.
 
Tranona said:
Registration is irrelevant. The only things that matter are its VAT status and your residency. If the boat was in the EU on 31/12 2020 then it is EU VAT paid. If you are resident outside the UK you can bring it in under the Temporary Admission rules for 18 months. If you are UK resident then VAT is payable on its market value (or purchase price if recently purchased) including transport costs if coming by road at 25%. It will also need to be certified to UK standards. Suggest you take professional advice or at least talk to the RYA as you may well find the costs and aggro make it not worth importing an old boat like this.
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Thanks for that Tranona. Is there anything to stop us using the Temporary Admission rules more than once? i.e. hopping over to Eire for a day then back to the UK for another 18 months of TA? Does TA have to be applied for or is it a given? Thanks again
 
PCUK said:
I thought there was a cut-off date before which these rules didn't apply?
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Age is irrelevant when importing a boat into a customs area. You could be importing Noah's Ark from Mesopotamia built in biblical times and you'd still have to pay VAT on arrival if it wasn't already UK VAT paid and you are a UK resident. This has always been the case. The cut off date thing was a hack to solve the mess of 1) the invention of VAT and 2) a country joining a customs area.
 
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PCUK said:
I thought there was a cut-off date before which these rules didn't apply?
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No. For VAT age is irrelevant, it is a tax on the importation of the asset, not the asset itself. Certification is a bit more complicated as currently for post 1997 boats a CE mark is accepted, but from 2023 all boats will need to be certified to the latest standards (which are currently the same as the EU) with no exemption for pre 1997. However this is probably being disputed and may well change. The EU has kept the exemption in their equivalent rules for boats going the other way.
 
Thanks all. Reading gov.uk rules it seems we will be able to keep it under the Temporary Admissions system. It appears we can also extend the 18 months to include the time we are not in the UK (to be confirmed!)
 
Look carefully at the Returned Goods Rules. Taking your boat outside the EU means that it could potentially lose its EU VAT status as you have to return still in your ownership within 3 years. Each state monitors this process in its own way so make sure you keep good evidence of its periods in the EU - marina bills, entry stamps, log books, position traces etc. The EU rules are written the same way as UK (which are just a cut and paste of the rules when UK was a member).
 
Tranona said:
Look carefully at the Returned Goods Rules. Taking your boat outside the EU means that it could potentially lose its EU VAT status as you have to return still in your ownership within 3 years. Each state monitors this process in its own way so make sure you keep good evidence of its periods in the EU - marina bills, entry stamps, log books, position traces etc. The EU rules are written the same way as UK (which are just a cut and paste of the rules when UK was a
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