Importing a boat to Spain from the US

[estepona]

We are thinking about importing a boat from the US to Spain. Does anyone know the proceedures for doing this and the taxes etc that need paying? Are there any restrictions/differences for non residents?

Thanks

[Don]

Importing a boat to Spain is quite unlike importing a road vehicle. You can keep a foreign registered (flagged) vessel in Spanish waters without "importing" as such. I, and many other brits keep a British flagged vessel in Spanish waters without too much hassle. Beware the VAT question and the license question. Any vessel "living" in Spanish waters is subject to be VAT paid, unless it is exempt or deemed paid (applies to vessels existing before VAT existed). Deemed VAT paid applies more to boats which are EU registered and were in EU waters on a key date according to the applicable law of the country of flag. For sure you always need substantial third party insurance for any mooring and that requires you to keep an insurance compant happy somewhere but beware that Spanish registered vessels are subject to a renewable vessel license with requires a regular survey, and owners/skippers of Spanish registered vessels require a captains license according to the size of vessel and the intended sailing waters. The "big" license applies to boats over 12m and covers over 12 nm offshore. For Andalucia, try www.eppa.es as a point for enquiries if you wish.

[estepona]

Thanks for your reply Don - thought it would be a shot in the dark to find someone with this kind of information!

Any vessel "living" in Spanish waters is subject to be VAT paid

This is what I'm especially interested in. As it's not going to initially be an EU registered boat, the question is - where to register it? Is it easier to register it in the UK, pay the tax and VAT in UK, and then transport it to Spain (with CE proof having been done), or have it delivered to Spain and then register it there and have it CE certified?

What is the import duty in Spain? In UK we have to pay 1.7% duty and 17% VAT on the total including the duty. Would Spain be more or less expensive than this?
We're looking into the overall cost of the two options, and what we may save by having the boat delivered directly to Spain, thereby not having to pay the transport from the UK, may well be outweighed by the requirement to have a regular survey and renewed licence if it's registered in Spain from what you're saying.

The boat we're thinking of buying will be something between 30 - 40 feet. Would this require a skippers/captains licence?

How did you get your UK registered boat to Spain? Did you sail it, tow it or transport it on a lorry?

[El Cid]

Although there are many UK registered boats sitting in Spanish marinas, the rules do differ depending on your resident status.

Boats are similar in many respects to cars. A resident can only keep it in Spain for a limited time, probably 6 months, and it should otherwise be registered as a Spanish boat and fly a Spanish ensign.

Like cars, this involves a registration tax of 12%. If EU IVA has not been paid, Spanish IVA of 16% will be charged.

Any skipper must hold the relevant compentancy qualifications and normally this would be the ICC issued by the RYA in the UK. If you own a Spanish registered boat then I think you have to have the relevant Spanish qualification.


The boat must be registered somewhere. It's much cheaper in the UK if you put it on the Small Ships Register. In theory, if you are no longer a resident of the UK you cannot use the SSR and have to have the expensive full registry (unless this has changed since I did it about 10 years ago).

As you can see, its a can of worms and it makes car ownership/importation look simple. It's no surprise that very few people go through the Spanish registration process but I understand some people have been caught out, particularly foreigners with permanent berths, and had to pay large amounts of money to regularise the situation.

I would think that importing directly to Spain would almost certainly get you involved in this process.

The cheapest delivery option is to sail it to Spain from the UK. If you don't fancy the trip then you can get it professionally delivered. Road transport is expensive for a boat that size. I took the slow option via the French canals and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sid

[Don]

Beg to differ on a couple of points Cid, mine has been out here now for 10 yrs or so and has been "investigated" by the Agencia Tributaria on VAT (it is so old that it is one of these deemed VAT paid yachts). They have accepted its VAT status and I have a berth in an official marina of the Junta de Andalucia all with no mention of transferring flag to Spanish. There are a few other UK flagged boats too in my area, admittedly some owned by tourists but even for those who are resident, no mention of needing to transfer the flag. I dont see any particular advantage either way for keeping UK flag or for transferring, makes no difference really as to tax etc., but keeping UK flag definitely keeps the documentation easier.

And for transport UK to Spain, I actually did have mine brought out as a special load by truck as it proved quicker, easier and cheaper at the time. Even with all the extras of the "large load" regulations, I waited until the carrier had a return load to get a better price. As it happens that year I heard of many UK boats taking months to get down due to bad summer weather and all that needs skipper and crew time. It took 8 days for me from collection on South UK coast to delivery in Andalucia. Delivery by sea was more expensive than the truck too and really comes into its own for the big stuff over 45 feet and/or too wide for the road.

[El Cid]

Beg to differ on a couple of points Cid, mine has been out here now for 10 yrs or so and has been "investigated" by the Agencia Tributaria on VAT (it is so old that it is one of these deemed VAT paid yachts). They have accepted its VAT status and I have a berth in an official marina of the Junta de Andalucia all with no mention of transferring flag to Spanish. .

Yes, in your case the IVA would not be a problem but on a new boat direct from the US it would be.

I only mention the other potential problem as some good friends of ours had a boat in the Junta marina in Marbella and were living on it and had to get it out of Spain in a hurry to avoid a big financial problem with regard to registration. I guess it's like the cars, sometimes it's a problem but usually not! I know it's a problem if you subsequently sell to a Spaniard as he wants you to pay the 12% tax!

Yes, the sail down can be a problem but I did it once in a Moody 37 in 10 days from the Hamble to Almeria - perfect weather in August!

Sid

Sid

[Don]

Always sought after a M38 but for the time being the bank balance needs a little more. I worked out a minimum of 8 days from Portsmouth, where I was, to Huelva where I am now which is pretty close passage time to your 10 days "in perfect weather". For that passage I would have needed a minimum of 2 more competent crew and unfortunately I didnt have the time to plan it with sufficient "spare" so I took the easy truck instead. As it happens, that particular year would have not been at all perfect weather as other boats arriving in Huelva had loads of bad stories. Would have loved to do the passage in my 35 for the experience but que sera sera.

[estepona]

From what I've understoon, if I wanted to import it for my personal use, it's better to import to the UK and register it there, where we're familiar with the import requirements etc, and then transport to Spain.
But if I wanted to either leave it in Spain permanently, or sell it, I would still have to go through some kind of Spanish legal requirements/registration?

I'm ok about having to have it inspected etc, but would I need to pay any further taxes/duty?
If so, would that be a one off charge, or charged on a regular basis?

[Colinm]

If its a new boat it will also have to conform to the EU 'Recreational Craft Directive' , or be inspected by a marine surveyor, who will confirm that it conforms. Otherwise you will not be able to import it into Europe.

[estepona]

That's ok, we've done it before on our previous boat so we know what to do in the UK as we know the company that does the inspection. Once it has the CE proof and the plate displayed we're ok to take it to Spain.

I don't know how to get this done in Spain though if we were to import it directly there which is why it's looking more and more likely that if we did take the plunge and buy another, we'll probably be importing it to the UK and transporting after paying duty and getting the inspection done to make it EU legal.

That's unless anyone knows any better.................?

[Don]

Dont forget Gibraltar as an option. The surveyor I use to keep the insurance company happy is based in Gib and is fully UK registered. I know of a few boat buyers who have nipped over the border to do the transaction under British law. And if you want to install tax free equipment you can also do that in Gib provided it is purchased and installed there and you are subsequently sailing off somewhere, whereas if you buy it and bring it out over the border in a car, for example, tax is payable.

[estepona]

You're right! I hadn't thought of that, and it makes a lot of sense. We're not too far away either being based in Estepona.

Would you mind sending me the details of the person you deal with there?

Thanks very much.

[Don]

Have pm'ed you. You can find a few Gib based UK qualified surveyors through google.

[Mikey-essex]

Hi
I see this post is from 2004 so some laws may have changed since. Looking to import a 9m Bayliner from US to Spain, I have read that there is no VAT in Europe since 2022? In UK VAT will still be payable not being part of the EU, which is a joke. Any experiences? If anyone has done similar shift from US what shipping costs am I looking at?
Thank a lot

[DannyB]

I am in no way an expert, but the topic comes up every now and again on the yachting forum I go on (ybw.com). The usual consensus is that for ordinary boats the lower USA price is more than outweighed by transport costs and converting to European regs and getting it certified .