Moving to Europe

[svenskflicka]

Does anyone know the tax implications of moving a boat (already owned by us, and sales tax paid in NY) to Europe when we move there? Will we have to pay VAT?

Thanks!

[atoll]

if you are EU residents you will have to pay tax.
if you are returning non resident EU nationals you can bring the boat in tax free as part as your personal possesions.

if you are not EU nationals,you get 18 months temporary import,which can be reset indefinitly by leaving eu waters for 24 hours

[svenskflicka]

Originally Posted by atoll

if you are EU residents you will have to pay tax.
if you are returning non resident EU nationals you can bring the boat in tax free as part as your personal possesions.

if you are not EU nationals,you get 18 months temporary import,which can be reset indefinitly by leaving eu waters for 24 hours

Thank you for the reply!

When you say non-resident EU national, would that be an EU citizen living abroad who is now moving home?

[Montanan]

Guidance as published by Malta, likely similar in the rest of the EU.

https://customs.gov.mt/individuals-t...r-of-residence

Importation into Malta of used Household and Personal Belongings upon transfer of Residence from a non EU country


Personal property belonging to persons transferring their normal place of residence from a non European country to Malta is admitted free from Import Duties according to Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1186/09 providing that:

The said belongings have been used for a minimum period of six (6) months before date of exportation.
Are intended for the same purpose at his/her normal place of residence.
Cannot be lent, hired out, given as security or sold before a year from their entry into free circulation in the E.U.
Have to be imported in full or part consignments either six (6) months before the person establishes his place of residence in the E.U. or until a year after his/her date of establishment in Malta.
No relief shall be granted for food, alcoholic, tobacco products and restricted goods.

The relief may be granted only to persons:

Whose place of residence has been outside the E.U. for a continuous period of twelve (12) months. Proof of this, from a competent authority abroad is to be submitted.

Who undertake to establish his/her place of residence in E.U. within a period of six (6) months after the importation of the personal effects.
Belongings include clothing, furniture, portable tools of trade and other things which are normally found around the house, cycles and motor cycles, private motor vehicles and their trailers, camping caravans, pleasure crafts and private planes.

Restricted goods include drugs, firearms, pornographic material, indecent or obscene material featuring children, flick knives and other offensive weapons, counterfeit currency, radio transmitters (walkie talkies, citizen band radios and certain types of bird callers etc) not approved for use in Malta, meat, poultry or other animal products , plants and plant produce including trees and shrubs, vegetables, fruit, bulbs and seeds; animals and birds whether alive of dead, stuffed, parts and articles derived from protected species including fur skins, ivory , reptile leather, stony corals and goods made from them.

A cash deposit as security is collected and refunded after a year from date of the last consignment imported as personal effects or a year after settlement of the importer, which ever date is the latter. It can be refunded once the importer proves that he has actually took up residence and that he has spent at least six (six) months in Malta in the last year, and that items imported free of imported duties are still in their possession.

When a person transfers residence from a non-EU country to an EU country (i.e. Malta), all customs documents have to be processed from the Customs Department, Customer Services Section.

How to clear goods from customs

The following documentation is required:
The Original Passport/s (both if dual) issued at least a year prior to importation
The Notice of Arrival bearing the consignee’s name. (Not the agent’s).
An SAD form duly filled in and signed by the importer, or a printout by the agent who is making the declaration in the importer’s name.
A detailed packing list valued and signed by the importer.
The Customs Declaration for ‘Bringing Personal Effects in the Customs Territory from the European Community’ form to be filled in and signed by importer and a witness to signature.
The National Statistics form for Persons Settling in Malta.
Original proof of living abroad for the 12 months prior to arrival in Malta, from a competent authority, i.e. Embassy, Employer, Lawyer or Accountant.
If the agent is clearing the goods in consignee’s name, an authorisation letter from the consignee is required.
Certificate of Registration (Residence Certificate) from the Office of the Commissioner for Revenue
If the owner of the goods has not yet come into the country and is giving Power of Attorney to someone else to clear his/her goods in his/her name, a proxy stating the above is to be presented to customs. All the above documentation still has to be presented to us by the person acting on their behalf. The owner will then have up to six months to take up residence and personally come to our office to clear all the relevant documentation.

On importation of:

Motorcar, Motorcycle, Quad Bike : Duty free entry if the importer has stayed abroad for at least one year and vehicle has been in the ownership and in use for at least six (6) months before moving. A vehicle imported with exemption from tax may not be sold or transferred before vehicle has been in ownership for at least one year in Malta.
Original/copy of commercial invoice or purchasing contract and Log Book are required. Release from Transport Malta and Police must be obtained. Values to be approved by Valuation Officers at Customs.
‘Importation of a private motor vehicle Customs Declaration’ form to be filled in and signed by importer and a witness to signature.

Boat, Jet Ski: Certificate of registry and CE Conformity certificate are required. Values to be approved by Valuation Officers at Customs.

Live Pets: A valid pet passport, Import Licence issued by Trade Department, CITES and BIP. On arrival pet is to be inspected by the VET at BIP (Border Inspection Post) together with Customs. Learn more

Food, (other than list mentioned above) must be sealed, vacuumed and labelled in English. Approval from port health authorities must be obtained.
Wine, Spirits: Importer is allowed to import 2 litres of still table wine, 1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22% volume OR 2 litres of fortified wine, sparkling or other liqueurs.
Firearms: Import Licence issued by Trade Department and approval by Police Ballistics are required.

New Items are subject to duty and VAT and must be declared on SAD form. Invoices are required.
The declaration is not approved until the deposit is paid at cash office.

The deposits are to be worked out as follows.

For personal effects, Firearms:
A rate of 5.3% on the Cost & Freight value declared to cover any duties due and 18% to cover any V.A.T.

Vehicle, Quad Bike:
A rate of 10% import duty on Cost & Freight value, as declared, subject to Customs Valuation review, and an overall rate of 18% VAT.

Motorcycle
A rate of 6% or 8% import duty on Cost & Freight value, as declared, subject to Customs Valuation review, and an overall rate of 18% VAT.

Boat:
Over 12 Metres No Duty, a rate of 18% VAT on Cost & Freight value as declared subject to Customs Valuation review.
Under 12 Metres, a rate of 1.7% import duty on Cost & Freight value, as declared, subject to Customs Valuation review, and an overall rate of 18% VAT.

Jet Ski:
Not Exceeding 100kg a rate of 2.7% import duty on Cost & Freight value, as declared, subject to Customs Valuation review, and an overall rate of 18% VAT.
Exceeding 100kg a rate of 1.7% import duty on Cost & Freight value, as declared, subject to Customs Valuation review, and an overall rate of 18% VAT.

Live Pets:
A rate of 18% VAT on Customs Value. Vet has to confirm value of pet.
Importers are well advised to seek the services of one of the licensed clearing and forwarding agents who are more conversant with the clearance of household effects.

Refund of Deposit

After a year from the date of the last consignment imported as personal effects, the deposit may be refunded, once it is proven that importer has resided in the E.U. (Malta) for a period of one year (Proof of Residence in Malta) . This proof consists of:

Proof from a competent authority, i.e. Employer, Lawyer, Notary etc., or if this cannot be obtained, a Promise of Oath will also be accepted.

If after two years from importation deposit is not claimed, it will be passed to revenue.

Before transferring your vessel to the EU, determine if your vessel is of a type that it will be able to be issued CE Conformity under current requirements. Some boat will require extensive modification to become conforming at great expense and may not be worth the bother and expensive to achieve such.

[atoll]

Originally Posted by svenskflicka

Thank you for the reply!

When you say non-resident EU national, would that be an EU citizen living abroad who is now moving home?

yes that is correct,and you would have to satisfy the customs and tax office in the country that you intend to settle in ,to be eligable for relief from tax,BEFORE you import the boat,rather than just arriving at your first EU port.
applying for tax relief in your new home country prior to arrival will also mean that any tax affaires are conducted there,rather than risking having the boat seized at the first EU port.

edit see post by montanan for reference to SAD

[svenskflicka]

Wow, thank you so much for the replies!

[wolfgal]

Welcome to the Old World!
whereabouts are you setting up camp?

my understanding (from reading on the subject a few years ago) is this:
when bringing a non-CE boat from abroad, there is usually VAT to consider and possibly CE inspection (boat importation). i believe the latter depends on whether you are and/or becoming EU citizens or not (it is a bit complicated).

if your boat is European-made with a CE plaque, you might get lucky and may only have just VAT (write a cheque). in the past, folks would head for the Azores where VAT is/was (am not up to speed anymore) less than elsewhere.

if you are from elsewhere (have a passport from States, Canada...) and a visa of some kind, then there may be other rules that apply (i really do not know much)... according to your visa. i wonder if the Schengen rules would kick in with visas...

there are others who have jumped the many different hoops. figuring out which hoops to jump is your first challenge.


hope this helps in some way.

wolfie

[svenskflicka]

Originally Posted by wolfgal

Welcome to the Old World!
whereabouts are you setting up camp?

my understanding (from reading on the subject a few years ago) is this:
when bringing a non-CE boat from abroad, there is usually VAT to consider and possibly CE inspection (boat importation). i believe the latter depends on whether you are and/or becoming EU citizens or not (it is a bit complicated).

if your boat is European-made with a CE plaque, you might get lucky and may only have just VAT (write a cheque). in the past, folks would head for the Azores where VAT is/was (am not up to speed anymore) less than elsewhere.

if you are from elsewhere (have a passport from States, Canada...) and a visa of some kind, then there may be other rules that apply (i really do not know much)... according to your visa. i wonder if the Schengen rules would kick in with visas...

there are others who have jumped the many different hoops. figuring out which hoops to jump is your first challenge.


hope this helps in some way.

wolfie

We are heading home to Sweden.

From what I can read above it seems like the boat should be a personal possession and we should be able to have the VAT refunded once we establish permanent residence. The boat was made in Croatia, so it should be all good from the CE perspective.

[Montanan]

Okay, so Sweden then:

First as to the EU there is the underlying general issue that customs duty and VAT are due upon first place of arrival into the customs territory of the EU, and if that is to be a place other than Sweden, you'll need to somehow have your ducks in a row so as to be able to garner the tax waiver benefit of your importation of personal effect to your new residency in Sweden and the enjoyment of using the deposit route of payment instead of the "Paid" means. I recommend that you contact the Swedish customs agency so as to have the documentation needed to avoid imposition of duty / VAT by an EU country to which your vessel may first sojourn to, before its entry into Swedish territory. One wishes to avoid getting into a tussle between EU countries as to which gets to collect your deposit / payments. I suppose one could sail or ship your boat directly from the USA to Sweden and avoid entry into any other EU country. Never sailed that way before, a bit of long journey across that pond.

Your prior payment of the privilege tax to the State of New York [either of a Sale or a Use taxation] carries no consequence as to importation into the EU. That was money spent to have the privilege of the vessel being in New York, there is no reciprocity or credit given between a State of the USA and a foreign country whereas there is interstate reciprocity within the USA regarding sales and use taxation, just as their is reciprocity provided for Eu paid customs and VAT between countries within the EU.

Since you are a German citizen, flagging the vessel under German nationality seems appropriate. FYI: Delaware is a State, not a Nation State; a vessel is to be registered in a State of the USA if that State is where it will be predominately used, which in your instance it isn't. Documenting a boat with the USCG provides for flagging the vessel because such is done at the Federal level of government, i.e., at the nation state, but you may not be an US American citizen so documenting the vessel with the USCG is a moot point. State registration [and/or State titling] is not the same as federal documentation of a vessel in the USA.

Further reference: https://www.tullverket.se/en/private...fe9e75b85.html

Pleasure boats

This contains information on the customs provisions applicable to commanders of pleasure boats entering or leaving the Swedish customs zone, that is to say Swedish land, sea and air territory, on their own keel.

The provisions apply to —

Pleasure boats which arrive from or leave for another EU member state or a country which is not a memberstate of the EU.

Swedish pleasure boats returning to Sweden after having left the Swedish customs zone and having gone out into international waters.
regardless in which country the pleasure boat and the persons on board are domiciled.
Note that in certain cases entry to and departure from Sweden has to occur at particular places. See also the section on “Special provisions under the Schengen cooperation agreement for checks on persons".

What is a pleasure boat?
Pleasure boat refers to a boat which is not used commercially and which does not carry anything other than essential supplies and provisions for the journey as well as the personal.

What to do on arrival
A pleasure boat which arrives from another EU memberstate and has passed international waters or an international fairway is subject to a duty of notification. This means that taxable goods on board must be reported without delay to a Customs office and declared to Swedish Customs, see the section headed “Customs offices in coastal areas".

Notification may be made verbally. If the time of arrival at the customs office falls outside normal opening hours, notification must be made by telephoning the Swedish Customs National Communications Centre, +46 (0) 8–405 05 70.

If the pleasure boat is only carrying goods which those on board are not obliged to report, the boat may be taken directly to a place other than an area with a customs office. In this case the commander does not need to notify Swedish Customs.

On the other hand,the duty of notification still applies if the pleasure boat has to be declared as such (reported under the customs procedure Transition to Free Circulation) or has to be reported for other approved customs clearance.

The pleasure boat may need to be declared, for example if it has been purchased in a country outside the EU.

What are you allowed to bring or carry on board?
Goods, which a pleasure boat carries to the Swedish customs zone from a country, which is not a member state of the EU, must be declared.

Information on provisions carried must be provided in writing if a customs officer requests it. The duty of notification does not apply if the goods are duty-free essential supplies, or if the goods maybe freely imported by the persons on board.

Goods which may be freely imported refers to goods which may be imported into the country without payment of duty or other charges and are not covered by import restrictions.
The customs office decides whether an item of goods which remains on board the pleasure boat may be used or consumed on board. In addition, the customs office may decide that an item of goods, for which use or consumption on board is not permitted, must be kept under customs supervision until it is cleared through customs or otherwise re-exported. Goods, which are under customs supervision, may not be taken on board or taken ashore from the pleasure boat without the consent of the customs officer. Other good that has to be declared for Customs are pet dogs and cats, firearms and dangerous articles.

Goods which are imported from another EU member state are mainly covered by the principle of free movement of goods in the internal market of the EU. There are, however, some Swedish exceptions to this principle.
Further information about what applies to the importing and exporting of goods (such as alcohol and tobacco) for travellers from or to another EU member state can be found in this website.

Exceptions apply for instance to goods covered by import restrictions.

Always contact Swedish Customs if you are in any doubt as to what can be imported into Sweden.

What to do on departure
Notification that a pleasure boat is due to leave the Swedish customs zone may be made verbally to the most appropriate customs office. If the boat only has goods which may be freely exported on board, the boat may depart from a place other than where there is a customs office and the commander in that case does not need to notify Swedish Customs.
Goods which may be freely exported refers to a gift or sample of goods with a value not exceeding SEK 2,000, as well as travel equipment, provisions and other objects, including sports equipment, for personal use, provided the goods are not covered by any export restrictions.

Customs control
A customs officer or an officer of the Swedish Coast Guard has the right to hail vessels in the Swedish customs zone. A pleasure boat which is hailed must stop immediately. Hailing is done by the signal L or SO being given by semaphore, radio or Morse code in the form of light or sound or by a stop paddle being shown.
Hailing can also be done by verbal address, by a prolonged sound on the siren or another acoustic device or in some other unambiguous way.

Everyone on board is obliged to provide the information and present the documents requested for customs control. A customs officer or an officer of the Swedish Coast Guard has the right to examine all compartments on board a pleasure boat to check the information which has been provided. They may also request that the boat be taken to another place where the examination can be conducted in a satisfactory manner.

The commander of the pleasure boat is obliged to provide necessary assistance in the examination. A customs officer or an officer of the Swedish Coast Guard has the right to seal or lock the compartments on board and also to take other actions which are necessary for customs control.

Special provisions under the Schengen cooperation agreement for checks on persons Pleasure boat traffic within the Schengen area
Provided the persons on board a pleasure boat are citizens of a Schengen state and that no place outside the Schengen area is visited, entry to and departure from Sweden may occur without there being an obligation to notify the police authority.

Pleasure boat traffic to or from a place outside the Schengen area.

Entry for pleasure boats arriving in Sweden from a place outside the Schengen area or leaving Sweden for a place outside the Schengen area must take place regardless of citizenship at border crossing points during fixed opening hours. All persons on board must be able to present approved travel documents.

Customs offices in coastal areas
You can find the opening hours of the customs offices in this link.

https://www.tullverket.se/en/aboutcu...fe9e76798.html

If you need help finding opening hours for Customs offices: Swedish Customs National Communications Centre
Telephone: +46 (0) 8–405 05 70
Fax: +46 (0) 8–654 06 11
E-mail: tuk@tullverket.se

The national communications centre is open 24 hours a day.You can also contact the Swedish Customs via our nationwide switchboard: +46 (0) 771-520 520 or our Information Service:+46 (0) 771-520 520 (Call rate®: National).

Trevlig resa.

Uhmm, if that is not a correct closing sentiment in Swedish, I apologize. I just googled Bon Voyage in a Swedish language translator, so American to French to Swedish, heck what could possibly go wrong with that means of deriving communication,

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by svenskflicka

Thank you for the reply!

When you say non-resident EU national, would that be an EU citizen living abroad who is now moving home?

In many cases, if you are moving from a permanent residence in the U.S., to a permanent residence in the EU, your household goods, including in many cases cars and boats, come with you tax free. Some research on the tax authority site of the country you'll be moving to (Sweden?) should tell you everything you need to know.

[Montanan]

The single administrative document (SAD)

The single administrative document (SAD) is a form used for customs declarations in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Turkey, the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia. It is composed of a set of eight copies each with a different function. Using one single document reduces the administrative burden and increases the standardisation and harmonisation of data collected on trade.

Reference link:

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_custom...ocument-sad_en

[Flod]

And apart from all the above if you intend to stay in Sweden and not go sailing internationally (except maybe Denmark, Norway, Finland ) you will never be asked of any proof of VAT payment. Sweden don’t have a register for pleasure crafts so the government don’t care.Strange since in all other areas we are under strict control regarding taxes. But anyway if you intend to stay in Sweden and do coastal cruising the importance of having a VAT proof of any kind is very low