Buying in NZ - What about GST & Duty?

[royelliot]

Originally Posted by Xpress

With respect to El Pinguino's research, you have to read the whole Customs working tariff document. There is a section covering the "small ships" he mentions, but a class of vessels otherwise dealt with includes vessels that are sailed to NZ by their owners, and that encompasses small craft up to superyachts (for which incidentally, temporary entry permits may now be granted for up to two years allowing cruisers to do major refits).
The concession stands: Duty and gst free if the owner has been offshore for 21 months or more, brings back the goods as a resident and does not sell for two years. If the two year bond is broken duty and gst are payable on an assessed value which has a lot of variables. It is worth noting that if duty is payable Customs have been thorough in the past in assessing not only the purchase price of a boat, but also any added equipment or repairs. Cruisers visiting NZ are well advised to keep all receipts and documents. I gather from a NZ citizen friend who sailed a US purchased boat to Australia, where he lives, that the rules are similar there. Work he had done to prepare for the voyage was included in the assessment when he arrived in Oz.

Funny I just went through the 21 months thing with some of my personal effects that I have had shipped over.... Maybe I can meet the owner offshore and sail into NZ...

[GrahamHO]

Originally Posted by royelliot

Funny I just went through the 21 months thing with some of my personal effects that I have had shipped over.... Maybe I can meet the owner offshore and sail into NZ...

You might need a cloudy day so they don't pick you up on the satellites. NZ is The Land Of The Long White Cloud so you might get lucky.