Buying a boat in Croatia

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Originally Posted by Pepijn

Thanks for your response! Mark called me back today to tell me the same and asked again for patience. I realise that indeed multiple brokers are used and therefore he needs sellers ok to send me the contract. I am surprised. I bought and sold real estate in Singapore and this is kinda frowned upon. If you cannot rely on 1 broker to do a proper job why engaging them is surprising to me.

As a humble, inexperience person new to the yacht market it is an eye opener. Thanks!

you are the owner (or bank) of money to buy boat,seller (or bank) is the owner of boat. broker is nothing.
you don't have experience and very naive.
if roman pope sell boat your duty is

check the registration number and other documents on line. Do this boat have debth or mortgage.

if company check online company.

you must pay boat only on one account(or bank) not account of a broker

[Pepijn]

Ehm, alright. Thanks. It is a pre-purchase agreement. Seller is obliged to disclose or contract is void. There is something called due diligence on part of broker.

[goboatingnow]

Two things.

Paying the money into a client account held by the selling broker is normal. It avoids the broker being scammed by the seller and it’s the normal way things are done.

Secondly until a purchace and sales agreement is signed by the seller it’s not worth the paper it’s written on.

[goboatingnow]

In relation to the vat. If you are not a eu tax resident ( ie you don’t have residency permits or stay more then 6 months ) then the seller “ can” sell you the boat with is already vat not paid , but only on the proof the boat will be exported within 30 days. Technically to be eligible for Temporary import permission you must “ import “ the boat from outside the EU.

Note that in most case ,as the seller remains liable for the vat , most vat registered sellers will retain the vat in escrow and refund you the vat when you present proof of export.

It’s very risky for a seller of a vat not paid boat doing a deal on eu soil to allow the sale to proceed without escrowing the vat.

This is because vat law says in the absence of clarity vat should be charged

Note that there is no procedure for TIP. You merely must be a non eu tax resident and import the boat , ie sail “ into “ EU customs union waters.

Note that in relation to any gear you buy or work that is done , in general if this work is done by the vat registered seller they can zero rate that work and you get it vat free ( post vat ESCROW , on proof of boat export ) but if you commission the gear yourself or any work locally you cannot reclaim the vat.

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Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Two things.

Paying the money into a client account held by the selling broker is normal. It avoids the broker being scammed by the seller and it’s the normal way things are done.

.

this is broker problem not buyers. If broker have problem with sellers ,he have court because the seller broke the provision contract.
also in Croatia we have lot custom office and port. Seller simple sign contract (stamp if company) and delivery boat in custom dock. Company usually take custom agents to make EU documents and cleared customs. If I am seller delivery boat in Cavtat custom dock and you go to monte negro and return by your wish
.

but for check boat registry you must know name and ton or register plate
{{localize('ePlovilo')}}

for check company including year before financial data. always check company address,name of director
https://sudreg.pravosudje.hr/registar/f?p=150:1

[psand]

Originally Posted by Tomaz473

This is not true.

Croatia is in EU, but is not in Shengen.
Montenegro is not in EU at all, and therefore can not be in Shengen either.

How does this fact affect you as a sailor:
Going from one Shengen state to another one does not need to clear out or clear in at all (for example going from Slovenia to Italy). No formalities are needed.
But going from Slovenia to Croatia one needs to clear out and clear in, because Croatia is not in Shengen. Failure to do so can be very expensive. There is no customs control if you move from one EU state to another (like going from Slovenia to Croatia), but there is police (immigration) if one of the EU states is not in Shengen (For Adriatic: Croatia is not while Italy, Slovenia and Greece are in shengen).

Having EU passports as well may be a burden if you own a yacht. EU citizen is subject to pay EU VAT even if entering EU for a single day on his yacht.
As your husband does not have EU passport make sure he is the owner and not you.
That much about the boat.
I do not have enough knowledge to advise about visa and length of stay of people, except that with EU passport one becomes liable to EU tax if one spends more then half of the year in EU (all days in a year combined), so leaving for a day will help you to stay in EU as a tourist (reset of 3 month visa), but will not help you regarding tax obligations. If you have no income then it is OK (if all income is to your husband).
If you (or kids) want to have ownership of the boat, then you better have EU WAT paid. There are many boats with VAt-paid status for sale in Croatia starting this year. Croatia had a very low VAT for boats just shortly before entering EU, so many people paid that low VAT and registered the boat under Croatian flag. This is true primarily for privately owned boats, where the owner is EU citizen.

Edit: While I was cruising -I kept my permanent address and residency in Slovenia. Changing a permanent address to a traveling vessel is not easy here. So my advise would be: Keep the permanent address and residency where you have it now and do all tour on a turist visa. Your husband will have to leave for a day every 3 months unless he gets longer visa. With his passport this will be much easier then with passport from a country with high migration flow to Europe (like Libia, Iran, ...).

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think having an EU passport makes you liable for paying VAT on your boat. I think it is having EU residency that matters.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by psand

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think having an EU passport makes you liable for paying VAT on your boat. I think it is having EU residency that matters.

You are entirely correct.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Anders

You are entirely correct.

The term is actually “ established outside the customs union “

[goboatingnow]

Just to counter a factual misinformation here.

Several countries are outside the EU but in Schengen , Iceland and Norway being a prominent example

Equally there are EU territories in the EU but outside Schengen , Ireland being a prominent example.

A Irish citizen on a yacht has the protection of the “four freedoms “ irrespective of the provisions of Schengen. That is he or she has “ freedom of movement “ protections.

Hence while I’m not subject to many Schengen provisions that control countries outside the Schengen area and the EU.

[psand]

Is there freedom of movement for your yacht travelling between Ireland and the UK and vice versa or are there VAT issues?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by psand

Is there freedom of movement for your yacht travelling between Ireland and the UK and vice versa or are there VAT issues?

there’s no issues Re freedom of movement for the crew we have a common travel area that predates the EU. We have the right to travel to, reside, work and vote in the U.K.

But the Vat issues remain. an Irish boat visiting the U.K. these days now avails of the TIP procedure of the U.K. this is currently a facsimile of the EU one. It’s in effect automatically applied. ( as it is in the rest of the EU)

Vice versa is now also done under Irish( EU) TIP procedures.

The issue does not arise with NI boats visiting Irish ports as the are deemed to be within the single market. ( or vice versa)TIP procedures do not arise in these cases.

What has happened is the Irish buyers are excluded effectively from its natural secondhand market in boats. But then Brexit has greatly affected everything in Ireland

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i now check ,my good all old cat in Croatia is sold. 1 nautitech from 2008 is oldest after this oldest is lagoon 52 from 2012 but is sale pending. only 20 catamaran is for selling . this is amazing usually we have over 200-300 Cat for selling but 10 is 1-5 year old price is bigger from new cat. but also you pay now boat (big deposit) delivery next october

[SierraTango]

Originally Posted by SteveSadler

I'm a US citizen, and bought a boat in Split last year from Euromarine. A Jeanneau 49 DS, 8 yrs old, they were motivated to sell to make room for a new replacement, as do all charter companies worldwide. We we're hunting the internet for over a year before finding her. Unlike private owners with emotional bonds, this was a business decision and it had to go. The price fell steeply as winter progressed, and the sale was easy to do while overseas. We had inspected the boat the previous October, and highly recommend doing so as vessel condition can vary widely. The boat came with everything they provide for charter. Vat not included. It was not listed on the internet, or a broker, making it hard to find. Many other boats we looked at were word of mouth as well, making a company by company search necessary. The survey was quick, insurance difficult, registration simple.
It can be done fairly easily and I found everyone involved quite professional.
We sailed the boat around Greece for 4 months without any additions or repairs except a bigger dingy. This year we're addressing some asthetics and electronics but happy with the boat.
Our biggest legal concern is the 90 day euro limit is hard to satisfy. Otherwise we've found the Med very cheap and easy to own a boat, provided you stay out of marinas.

Planning to buy a 49DS in the Med or Baltic this year. And yes I'm hung up on the 49DS. I've heard mixed reviews from brokers about buying in the Med. I have 20+ questions, have you documented your purchase experience? Otherwise, I would be happy to document mine on CF and solicit your input on a dedicated thread. Cheers!

[Jeffrey Oc]

Originally Posted by CAPTAINRONBVI View Post
ROBBINS FAMILY

MY VESSEL IS REGISTERED IN THE U S STATE OF DELAWARE AND FLYING A U S FLAG. UNDER EUROPEAN REGULATIONS THE VAT HAS NEVER BEEN PAID ON THIS VESSEL. AFTER THE SAIL WAS CONSUMMATED VESSEL REGISTERED, I TOOK AN OVERNIGHT CRUISE 12 KM OFFSHORE FROM SPLIT AND RETURNED TO THE ISLAND VIS, CROATIA THE NEXT DAY.

THAT QUALIFIED UNDER LAW, AS LEAVING THE EU TERRITORY AND THEREFORE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY VAT.

THE BEST ADVISE I CAN GIVE IS:

"DON'T WORRY - BE HAPPY!"

CIAO

CAPTAIN RON

You should already have 18 months to export yacht out of EU. US flagged and rego.

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Originally Posted by Jeffrey Oc

Originally Posted by CAPTAINRONBVI View Post
ROBBINS FAMILY

MY VESSEL IS REGISTERED IN THE U S STATE OF DELAWARE AND FLYING A U S FLAG. UNDER EUROPEAN REGULATIONS THE VAT HAS NEVER BEEN PAID ON THIS VESSEL. AFTER THE SAIL WAS CONSUMMATED VESSEL REGISTERED, I TOOK AN OVERNIGHT CRUISE 12 KM OFFSHORE FROM SPLIT AND RETURNED TO THE ISLAND VIS, CROATIA THE NEXT DAY.

THAT QUALIFIED UNDER LAW, AS LEAVING THE EU TERRITORY AND THEREFORE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY VAT.

THE BEST ADVISE I CAN GIVE IS:

"DON'T WORRY - BE HAPPY!"

CIAO

CAPTAIN RON

You should already have 18 months to export yacht out of EU. US flagged and rego.

more 40nm from split in middle between island zirje-vis.
you must reach minimum this blue in photo

pictures hoster

but lot time we sail between solta-trogir and go to komiža direct.AIS off of course. 38-40 nm.

if sombody need more of 90 day Schengen visa before come take this nomad visa . 90 days is nothing

usa,canada,aus,uk ecc can do online
https://digitalnomadscroatia.mup.hr/Pages/Zahtjev2