Monday, March 25, 2013

Yachts Lured To Croatia By EU Accession VAT Perk

www.bethelfinance.com/rm

 Yacht owners who are yet to pay European Union value-added tax (VAT) on the purchase of their yachts, and who wish to put their boats into free circulation in the EU, have been encouraged to temporarily register their vessels in Croatia to take advantage of a concessionary VAT rate being introduced ahead of the nation's entry into the European Union on July 1, 2013.
 Under EU law, yachts that have been purchased in the EU are subject to VAT , at varying rates permitted by the European Union. Once VAT has been paid on a yacht it may be transferred from one EU member state to another free from incurring any additional VAT, as with other goods that travel across EU frontiers.
 Croatia is set to join the European Union from July 1, 2013, and Croatian yacht owners, under the rules, will be required to pay VAT on their vessels to establish them as EU goods. Croatian yacht owners may opt to instead relocate their boats to another EU member state ahead of the nation's accession and pay VAT there instead.
 The Croatian Government has recognized that if it were to attempt to levy a 25% VAT on Croatia-based yachts it would lead many owners to pre-emptively relocate their vessels, either to member states with lower VAT rates, such as Italy and Malta, or to territories outside to the European Union to avoid the tax burden. Therefore, the Croatian Government has announced plans to allow a concessionary 5% VAT rate for those persons that register and relocate their vessels to Croatia before May 31, 2013, until after the nation has joined the European Union at the earliest. Vessel owners looking to avail themselves of the concession have been urged to act fast as the process of registering a boat in Croatia can take several weeks, and the offer will be withdrawn on June 1, 2013.

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