Bieng a Danish citicen, and having found a US
boat, I'm currently spending some time at this moment looking through the possibilities of registering, and pros and cons for all options.
Ideel choice would be to register in
denmark - given my nationality.
Main issue here would be the danish 25% VAT!! This could be lowered by importing to another EU country with lower VAT.
Malta is currently
charging 15% - thus I will save some
money this way, and as soon as VAT has been paid somewhere in the EU, then it's accepted all over EU.
I can live with the 15%, but will struggle to meet the next requirement: that the
boat has to be present at
Malta for it to be "imported"....surprise, surprise....
Anyways: I have talked to the danish-import-and-tax-system....whomever-person, who have told me that registering the boat in
Denmark has to do with the Maritime Institute and not the VAT department!
Called the Maritime Institute and according to them, they will register as soon as the
legal documents have been made available to them. The boat will not need to be present (and in my case, this is most convenient...). They don't care about VAT, as this is the business of another part of the
government.
Over to them again... They now tell me that as long as the boat is not imported, it's not possible to pay the VAT!
OK then.... "does that mean, that I could
cruise the world with the boat registered as Danish, and as soon as I arrive the EU, I will have to pay the VAT"? "Yes", was the reply!
So - as I see it, I can buy the boat in the US. Register it as belonging in Denmark, and skip the VAT for now. Plans are to arrive in the Mediterranien sometime after 3 - 4 years anyhow, and then
import the boat by paying the VAT!
Doeas anyone know if some
ports (other than European) wants to see a "VAT paid in port of registrtaion"?