Quote:
Originally Posted by ColinSwales
Another problem with buying a boat in Belize...
The boat I'm seeing is US (Delaware) registered to a US ex-pat who is retired and bought it duty-free out of the Moorings fleet as a QRP retiree.
If I purchase the boat in Belize, how long would I be able to keep it there before Belize would want import duty on the ENTIRE boat ?
Would things be any better if the deal was done down in Rio Dulce ?
Any help appreciated...I'm coming down to inspect it in Placencia next week.
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Not long, I think its 90 days max, but you should confirm with
Customs the
current details on
buying a QRP boat. Importation is insanely expensive, thats why nobody does it (unless they have a "friend" in Customs).
You may be able to register it as a foreign vessel. This is what the
charter fleets do. This involves a higher annual
registration fee (BZ$1,000 last time I did it), but that was years ago. Foreign vessel regisration has historically been used only for
charter fleet boats, I doubt Customs/Port Authority would allos it for a private boat, but no harm in asking.
Be forewarned, dealing with Belizean offocialdom can be a very trying life experience, even if they give you the answer you want to hear up front...you may never be able to get there from here. [emoji849] Therefore, my suggestion is to take the
route that involves the least
red tape, which is likely just buy it and run to the Rio...everything is easier in
Guatemala.