VAT status for second hand boat

[westernman]

I’ve never bought a vehicle which has been imported to the U.K. (other than by the original manufacturers representative). If I was buying an import I would certainly be doing my dilligence to ensure it’s paperwork was all in order.

Really? The majority of cars in the UK were imported. Even those that were made in the UK were mostly assembled from imported subassemblies......
Also if you buy a TV or a computer, it was almost certainly imported.

its not just about you not committing the offence it’s about your ability to easily sell it on in day 5 yrs (when the market may be less bullish than now) and having everything to make your life simple if Border Force do decide to board you etc.

This seems to be unique to boats. And also mainly within the UK boating community.

do you buy items at tens of thousands of pounds from Amazon you might want to resell? Always worth beating in mind that whilst a £10k vat bill (or perhaps a £5k legal bill to convince HMRC its not your problem) would be an irritation to some it’s a vast sum of money to others.

There is no chargeable event. HMRC cannot charge you anything.

 

[lustyd]

I have written to my MP three times about this and only get pointed at the current rules. The thing is they don't answer the question. I have come to the conclusion that HMRC don't know.

If you want a response from HMRC then phone HMRC. Writing to your MP won’t help in that regard. I’ve found HMRC very helpful and their rules pretty straightforward. A friend received a letter confirming VAT status of his boat after a quick chat explaining its history.

 

[ylop]

Really? The majority of cars in the UK were imported. Even those that were made in the UK were mostly assembled from imported subassemblies......

go and read what I wrote again. I was quite specific because I knew someone would try to be a smartarse.
.

This seems to be unique to boats. And also mainly within the UK boating community.

I believe Commercial vehicles have this weird vat status like boats where if they were originally purchased by a vat registerred entity they can be in circulation without vat having been paid and vat being due on subsequent sale to a non vat registered buyer. I expect that the private aircraft community may have similar concerns.

it’s certainly not a concern unique to the U.K., proof of vat status emerged as a concern in EU waters long ago. Some customs officials expect to see it - because their own home state vessels have very good documentation / registration paperwork. If you are an EU resident who is used to that documentation heavy approach to sailing you will have the vat paperwork so won’t be concerned. Try selling a boat to a German - even a small trailer sailer, and see if their alarm bells ring if you have little or no paperwork for it!

In any case it is totally irrelevant if the U.K. community are wrong in their perception it is needed - it would be like buying a car without the v5, or current mot - probably ok and can be sorted out with enough patience and admin but clearly not as clean as the seller who has a folder with every receipt etc.

There is no chargeable event. HMRC cannot charge you anything.

that may well be the case, but you clearly have never dealt with HMRC, if you think that matters to whether you experience a load of pain/stress and whether they at least threaten to take the money/boat until the dispute is solved.

 

[lustyd]

There is no chargeable event. HMRC cannot charge you anything.

Actually there is. Sailing to the EU is a chargeable event, as is returning. Both constitute export/import. There are rules for exception but they are chargeable events.

 

[ashtead]

You don’t say value or how rare the boat is as clearly attitude to risk might be influenced but would seem to me if a 12 year old boat? it’s not beyond the scope of having original invoice surely? As posts above reveal seems your future plans and attitude to risk vary but raising of issue shows not a vanilla boat . How much of a discount can you get for this factor though ?

 

[lustyd]

I don't think it's unreasonable for older boats. How would you know you even owned it without original invoice and a chain of bills of sale? With no registration system in place keeping paperwork is essential. If the previous owner can't look after a couple of sheets of paper, how well will they have treated the expensive boat?

 

[st599]

There is no chargeable event. HMRC cannot charge you anything.

Sailing to the EU is a chargeable event - with a temporary import exception.
Sailing back to the UK is a chargeabel event - with a returned goods relief exception.

You can be asked to prove you have a right to the exception.