Temporary Admission

We advise and assist clients on the procedures and formalities for the temporary admission of their yachts into the EU. Temporary admission is a mechanism which enables non-EU resident yacht owners to bring their yachts into European waters for a limited time without having to pay VAT on importation. The criteria for temporary admission of a yacht, is that the yacht must be owned by a natural person or a legal person that is resident outside the VAT territory of the EU, and the yacht must not be used for commercial or chartering purposes. Any user of the yacht must be a non-EU resident although EU resident guests can accompany the non-EU user who must also be on board. Once the yacht has been temporarily admitted and registered it can then be used within the EU for a maximum of 18 months after its first arrival which period is known as the “discharge period”.
Under certain conditions this time frame can be extended to a maximum of 24 months.

The yacht must be exported from the EU prior to the expiration of the discharge period otherwise the importer (owning company) may be subject to VAT on the value of the imported yacht and other sanctions depending on the EU jurisdiction in which the yacht may be present. Once exported from the EU the yacht may apply again for temporary admission. The UCC does not provide for a minimum period during which the yacht must remain outside the customs territory of the EU.

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