Plans to scrap second VAT payments for EU-VAT paid boats returning to the UK are facing delays.

The Association of Brokers & Yacht Agents (ABYA) has been lobbying the British Government for changes which would allow UK owners of vessels, bought UK or EU VAT paid pre 31st December 2020 and based in the EU, to return the boat to the UK under the Return Goods Relief scheme without having to pay VAT again.

ABYA members were due to attend a presentation by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in relation to the proposed changes to Returned Goods Relief for EU-VAT paid boats, but it was cancelled at the last minute.

A spokesman for HMRC told ABYA that Ministers were ‘still considering the issue’, and that brokers and boat owners ‘should plan any journeys during the current sailing season on the basis that the current [Returned Goods Relief] rules will apply on arrival in the UK’: effectively, this means that UK citizens who bought an UK/EU VAT paid boat before the end of the Brexit transition period and based it in Europe will have to pay VAT for a second time to bring their boat to the UK.

The current Returned Goods Relief scheme only allows someone to bring their vessel back without paying VAT if they can provide evidence that they were the person that originally exported the vessel out of the UK. Originally, owners had until July 2022 to bring their boats back, but the three year condition was waived by the Government last year.

Continues below…