Kite Mark and VAT to Take Vessel from USA to EU

[Needosh]

Hi there Boatman,

just received a mail back from 'Scott', he is off to the states and will get back to me asap.
Seems promising!
Thank you very much for the useful info.

Kind regards Ed

[Needosh]

Hi Mike,
thanks for the mail, sadly we have registered her in the UK and are British ex pats. Not lived in the UK for 17 or so years.

Looking into bringing her in as my personal 'stuff'!

Will see what happens.

Kind regards Ed

[Captain Sardine]

See if this location is more help.

HM Revenue & Customs

cheers,

[Needosh]

Hi there Captain Sardine!

I have already flagged her UK. That was done in Curacao, no problem. It is not required to show the CCE details.

It seems there is a bonafide way to bring the vessel in without VAT, it would enter as part of my Ex Pat stuff... So far so good!

Thanks for the posting along with the links, Ed.

[Captain Sardine]

You are welcome.

Under part 3.15 of the HM Revenue and customs page it is clear that you should be able to bring your boat back with you VAT exempt IF you are moving your permanent residence to the UK after more than 1 yr abroad and do not intend to sell the vessel in the next year. I believe this is also applicable to the other EU countries.

Now the CE kite mark is another matter altogether... However the CE stamp is required for craft introduced to the CE market after 1995. If your vessel was already in service in the EU market prior to 1995 (UK registered) you may be exempt. Otherwise even if you are not required to the the CE conformity at this time (for registration purposes or otherwise) you may still have to do it at a latter itme if you want to sell the boat, etc.

cheers,

cheers,

[goboatingnow]

Needosh, Theres much mis-information here

Transfer of residence.( The TOR process) This is an EU wide scheme, ( not just the Uk), which allows a genuine returning person, setting up residence in the EU, to bringin all their possesions, Vat and duty free. Its a fairly straightforward process. Ensure that the boat is specifically mentioned and referred to , incase you get hassle in other EU countries. Contact HM Customs for procedures.

Note that means before setting off, ensure you have the TOR process underway and have a letter or something from HM customs agreeing you are bringing the boat by sea to the UK. This avoids problems in the Azores or elsewhere in the EU if you land somewhere other then the UK first. Technically on "new means of transport"m VAT is only payable in the country of destination, so all of this is within the UK remit.

CE Marking. The legal position is that ANY boat that is outside the EU must be CE marked on importation. ( Forgot this "put in use", as it refers to business imports). There is no exclusion for boats currently outside the EU, irrespective of age, the 1995 excemption refers to boats in the EU at that date, however if yours was thats fine, but it was exported and hence is subjected to CE on re-entry.

The Recreational Craft Directive ( which the CE markl shows conformance) only allows excemption for home built boats. In your case CE marking is required at or before importation. ( The 6 months excemption , actually 18 months , is only for non-resident foreigners visiting the EU).,

Note that in practice noboby will police the entry into the Uk of a non CE boat, ( well you would be most unfortunate if Trading standards found you) but you will be unable to ever sell the boat and technically you are liable to 200000 fine or 6 months in gaol !!.

The simplest is to have it certified under category D, but this may affect her future resale value.

The key thing is that you must go through the RCD process. But you could do it in the UK , ( which is what I would do) when you import the boat, technically this is illegal, but doable.

What flag you have the boat in is completely irrelevant to VAT and CE. Its your status that counts

Dave

[Captain Sardine]

Thanks a lot for for the info Dave

I agree with your interpretation.

Concerning the CE (RCD conformity), some countries like Spain require registration and “reflagging” of any boat owned by residents in the country (be citizens or not). It is not possible to registrer a boat in Spain without presenting proof of RCD compliance. This becomes a de-facto enforcement of RDC (BTW there is a new registration law in Spain and things may have changed on the last year).

If you are not forced to registrer to boat you may be able to postpone compliance. I understand that VAT compliance is actively enforced by customs and excise agencies in most European countries. Is RDC compliance monitored at any other time than when selling a boat or applying for registration? (insurance requirement, perhaps?). However, I agree that this is at best a postponement of the requirement if you are going to reside permanently in the EU.

I am very interested in this subject since I am considering a job assingment in the UK in a year and with all the funds required to equip the boat and move a family, there is simply no budget for the (very,very expensive) RDC at least for a while.

Cheers,