Where to sell the boat - Caribbean or UK?

[sebastiannr]

Hiya!

My soon-to-be-wife and I are currently in the Balearic's, aiming for a November Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean. After the crossing we plan to spend a few months cruising over there, but the call to return and start a family in the UK will eventually draw us back home.

Does anyone know what the yacht market is like over there? If the UK is a much better place to sell up I will sail her back, but if there's not much in it I would probably prefer to sell the boat over there.

She's a 1981 High-Tension - a 10.8m cruiser racer.

Any info would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Seb.

 

[ffiill]

If you want a very cheap boat buy it in the Caribbean

 

[sebastiannr]

If you want a very cheap boat buy it in the Caribbean

Ahh, ok thanks for the info - northern Atlantic route back to the UK it is then!

 

[SailorBill]

If the boat is currently deemed to be 'VAT Paid' then it won't be if you sell it outside of mainland Europe, which might reduce it's worth to a potential purchaser.

 

[TQA]

It will be worth more and sell more easily in the UK.

If VAT is paid that would not be worth anything to a Caribbean buyer unless they were bound for Europe.

 

[Tranona]

It will be worth more and sell more easily in the UK.

If VAT is paid that would not be worth anything to a Caribbean buyer unless they were bound for Europe.

However, the boat would almost certainly be liable to VAT when it re-enters the EU, unless it is brought back by the person who took it out. VAT is not a one off asset tax, but a transaction tax and importing a boat into the EU is a "chargeable even" unless the importer qualifies for one of the (limited) exemptions.