Boats with unpaid taxes

[sveinutne]

It was a lot of information here, so to be safe or clear I will ask this.
If I want to buy a boat in Greece or Turkey that has unpaid tax or VAT, and I would like to sail it in the same waters Croatia, Greece Turkey and Egypt and not paying any tax what to do? I am a Norwegian citizen, and Norway is not part of EU, but almost with EØS agreement.

[Bluewaters2812]

I have noticed a lot of boats for sale with "taxes not paid" next to the price. Does this mean that the new purchaser will have to settle these taxes in addition to the purchase price?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Bluewaters2812

I have noticed a lot of boats for sale with "taxes not paid" next to the price. Does this mean that the new purchaser will have to settle these taxes in addition to the purchase price?

I think the answer is...........depends (not helpful I know - but true!).

Depends on what taxes, relevant jurisdiction(s) and own circumstances of Buyer.....as a broad rule of thumb, I would expect that if buyer is foreign based and the boat will be dissapearing over the horizon (foreign!) then likely that the unpaid boat taxes will not become payable (legally!) - whereas if the same boat was bought by a local then the taxes would fall due.........and no doubt lots of circumstances in the middle, plus the angle of whether boat taxes (to another jurisdiction) would be payable if the boat arrives somewhere else.

Speaking as a fellow UKer , the US boat tax position seems all over the place as is based largely on local rules (State and County? / City?).

I think you need to kick out specific examples (including your own position - UK resident? and intended boat travels / future location).

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Bluewaters2812

I have noticed a lot of boats for sale with "taxes not paid" next to the price. Does this mean that the new purchaser will have to settle these taxes in addition to the purchase price?

I have seen a few of these over the years and have to say with great reluctance that DOJ is correct in one comment.

It does depend.

In most cases I've seen the unpaid taxes were import duties. For example, boats owned by US citizens, maybe even US registered/documented but for sale only outside the US since they had not been formally imported to the US and the owner had not paid import duties.

Similar cases with EU boats with VAT not paid for similar reasons.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

I think the answer is...........depends (not helpful I know - but true!).

Depends on what taxes, relevant jurisdiction(s) and own circumstances of Buyer.....as a broad rule of thumb, I would expect that if buyer is foreign based and the boat will be dissapearing over the horizon (foreign!) then likely that the unpaid boat taxes will not become payable (legally!) - whereas if the same boat was bought by a local then the taxes would fall due.........and no doubt lots of circumstances in the middle, plus the angle of whether boat taxes (to another jurisdiction) would be payable if the boat arrives somewhere else.

Speaking as a fellow UKer , the US boat tax position seems all over the place as is based largely on local rules (State and County? / City?).

I think you need to kick out specific examples (including your own position - UK resident? and intended boat travels / future location).

Yes, I am a UK resident and Citizen but also a South African citizen/non-res. For example: A boat in Martinique or BVI with "taxes not paid" bought by us? Any ideas?