Quote:
Originally Posted by espresso
Hi. I am currently building my boat in South Africa and intend to take it to the Med next year. I know that if I leave it in the EU for more than 18 months I will have to pay VAT, but how is the value of the boat determined? I have a vague idea of how much it has cost me, but because I have done most of the work myself, my cost is mainly the materials and kit that went into the boat. Also is there a big variation in the VAT charged in various EU countries, and if I pay VAT in one country, do the other countries accept this as a closed case then?
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Once you have paid VAT you are issued with a VAT paid certificate that is valid throughout all the EU countries. The cheapest place at this time is the
Azores at 13% or
Madeira at 14% but that is dependant upon their valuation of your boat. I have heard of production
boats being valued at less than 50% of their market value but that is the risk you take.
As someone else said above if you are not an EU citizen I wouldn't bother paying it at all. There are numerous places you can escape to each year, get your passport stamped and then return.
I collected my boat from
Cape Town last year and as I'm an EU citizen I have no choice but to pay the VAT. 13% of your
boats value gives you one hell of a lot of additional cruising
budget (which you will need when you see the costs of marina's).