Change to non-EU flag, lose VAT status?

[hoppy]

My boat is VAT paid, in the EU and I have sailed her under a Swedish flag for the past 5 years. I am now registering her as Australian.

Has she lost her VAT paid status?

[atoll]

no vat status is the same regardless of the registry until exported from the eu and resold,when it might become liable for vat under a new owner when imported again

[Prairie Chicken]

Concur with what Atoll said. Or, said another way, I believe if you take the boat out of the EU for--I think it's 2 years--it loses it's VAT paid status, regardless of whether you're the owner or someone else.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

Concur with what Atoll said. Or, said another way, I believe if you take the boat out of the EU for--I think it's 2 years--it loses it's VAT paid status, regardless of whether you're the owner or someone else.

With the exception of French Overseas Territories I believe... and other EU country holdings..
IE: Caribbean Islands.. French Polynesia etc... so you could spend a few years based out of say Guadaloupe or St Martin/St Barts.. then a few years in the S Pacific.. and still have 2 years to complete your circumnavigation..
The EU does have some benefits...

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

Concur with what Atoll said. Or, said another way, I believe if you take the boat out of the EU for--I think it's 2 years--it loses it's VAT paid status, regardless of whether you're the owner or someone else.

It will be a one way journey to Aussie land I think.

I do look forward to one day paying the Aussie GST

[Bulawayo]

I hear what everyone else is saying but I am puzzled. Do the rules change within the EU? The last boat we sold was UK VAT paid when we bought her in the Caribbean. We took her to the MED where we were never asked for proof of the status and then after a period in the Indian Ocean we sold her a diving school in Egypt. Since then she was sold again to a Brit guy who has now got her moored in the Med. We are still exchanging mails (never met) and he tells me what a relief it was that the VAT had been paid in UK and that he doesnt have to pay again?
There was no mention of the two years restriction. My own enquiries last year with the UK resulted in being advised that the UK would not charge VAT on the same item twice.
As I said, I am now puzzled. Perhaps the UK does not have an issue?

Originally Posted by hoppy

My boat is VAT paid, in the EU and I have sailed her under a Swedish flag for the past 5 years. I am now registering her as Australian.

Has she lost her VAT paid status?

[Rapanui]

Strictly speaking you lose VAT status after a period of time outside the EU, BUT
Why would you ever volunteer that the boat has stayed outside EU? Unless the owner proffers that information, how would anyone know. I am not aware of any database that customs people can interrogate that would identify that the boat had stayed outside the EU and never returned even for 1 day into the EU. In my view, it is just an almost unenforceable rule that doesn't make sense. All countries have such rules.

[Sempersafloat]

The info I got from the Customs and Excise guys when we sailed away from the UK was that you can sail away forwhatever time you like, and certainly within the EU the only people who have any VAT claim on the vessel are the country where she was purchased, and you have a VAT paid status, so no prob in the UK. There is a bit of confusion with VAT and import duty as some counties consider the vessel to be imported when she has been in their waters for longer than a given time (and this seems to vary country to country), and then she would be vat payable on sale. If you don't outstay the time for being considered an import en route, you shouldn't run into a VAT/GST issue until she's sold in the country she actually gets imported into, ie your final destination, but you would in any case be liable to an import duty based on the value of the boat.
Hope that helps

[Gazzza]

Hi Hoppy

Please post your "import" experience (with tips) when it happens.

[philgiles]

I don't know if your intention is to sail the boat to Australia, but if so, you will be required to pay Australian duty 5% and GST 10%. See the following link.
Importing a yacht