Keeping Swiss Reg aircraft in Germany

I think some VAT related info is here.

By9468840 wrote:

Does anyone know if a swiss resident can keep an HB reg aircraft in Germany without paying EU VAT?

In my opinion, in theory, no, you can’t. Just like if you have a second home in Germany and buy a fridge or a car for usage in Germany, you have to pay EU VAT on it (either by buying it in the EU, or on import into the EU if you bought it in Switzerland or elsewhere outside the EU VAT area).

The plane’s registration will not change anything about customs status.

And as lionel said, after 6 months having your plane based in Germany, you have to pay the VAT there. Your nationality or residence can only have an impact in triggering this requirement even sooner.

Rwy20 wrote:

The plane’s registration will not change anything about customs status.

In practice, I think EU member states registries refuse to register unless the plane’s VAT is paid/declared. I can imagine that it will not go into their procedures that a plane on their register, but is based outside the EU, will not have VAT paid/declared. Or maybe they will accept a statement from customs or some such, but that’s a gamble.

after 6 months having your plane based in Germany, you have to pay the VAT there. Your nationality or residence can only have an impact in triggering this requirement even sooner.

I recall, from some previous VAT threads, this is actually true, and you get the full 6m only if your passport is from nowhere near the EU. If you are an EU passport holder then you get much less and e.g. ferry pilots with EU passports have to be careful. There is some process which enables a “safe” transit; I don’t recall details but have a vague recollection it involves some sort of bank guarantee…

EU member states registries refuse to register unless the plane’s VAT is paid/declared

Some certainly do not, like the UK which is full of planes imported without VAT paid. There was an amnesty in the 1980s… plenty of old posts.

I am a Swiss resident but I’ve always kept my aircraft under D-reg in Germany

If the plane has been physically sitting in Germany for a long time, and you can prove it, is that not relevant?

Peter wrote:

If the plane has been physically sitting in Germany for a long time, and you can prove it, is that not relevant?

Could be an indication that VAT has been paid at some point. In my very personal opinion (worth what you paid for it), if a private individual buys an aircraft in the EU from another private individual, and the plane stays based in the EU, then the seller should continue to be liable to the state for any VAT not paid before the sale and not the buyer. Since there is no VAT on sales between private individuals in the EU. A possible importation of a plane without paying what is due would be a kind of tax fraud, but committed by the person having imported the good originally. Except if there is criminal intent, the buyer cannot be held liable for tax fraud committed by another individual.

The thing is, @By9468840 never stated that the plane he is looking at is based in Germany, neither for a short or a long time, so your question doesn’t seem relevant to his case. At least that is how I understand this:

By9468840 wrote:

I started to eyeball some HB reg aircraft for purchase

That is how I understood your original question. So my original answer in post #4 unfortunately still stands.

The only “positive” is that a plane which has Swiss VAT paid never loses this status, contrary to the “EU VAT paid” status which can technically run out every few years (3 or 5) if the plane never came back to the EU, so you could be forced to pay the VAT again (and again, and again). So at least if you base the plane you’re buying in Germany, you can land with it in Switzerland if you wish. But you still have to pay EU VAT.