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Aircraft VAT / import VAT / getting busted upon landing in the EU (merged thread)

Some info on aircraft VAT and what amounts to an “amnesty” can be found here.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

How to obtain proof on old VAT payment in UK

Forum,

An airplane was imported from the US to the UK in 1998. VAT was paid.
Now, we need to find proof of this VAT payment. Old owner doesn’t find the proof back.
Is there another way to obtain such proof from the UK authorities? How? Pointers?

Thanks.

Last Edited by Niner_Mike at 19 Jun 07:40
Abeam the Flying Dream
EBKT, western Belgium, Belgium

Is this a plane you own, or one you are looking at buying?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I am brokering a deal for a seller

Last Edited by Niner_Mike at 19 Jun 08:14
Abeam the Flying Dream
EBKT, western Belgium, Belgium

UK Customs won’t keep stuff for that long, and anyway they may not even know about it so maybe not a good idea to ask
Try with the import company (the dealer, or the shipping company which brought it into the country). At a push, track down its directors and send a nice letter to their home address, because old paperwork is sometimes kept in the loft.
Try whoever the present owner bought it from.
Google the reg to see where it used to live and fly. A plane which has actually left the shed significantly will be all over google; if not it’s prob99 a hangar queen (or worse) in which case discount the price by the engine overhaul. If not on google, do extreme due diligence. Then dig around the airfield; somebody might know a previous owner.
Post the reg on EuroGA; somebody might know it

You say “VAT was paid” – that suggests there is evidence, so why is that not good enough

Personally I would discount the price by 20%, or walk away, because anybody who bought a plane (as opposed to a pair of socks) and could not be bothered to keep the paperwork is going to have a similar attitude to everything else in life, notably things like maintenance records. Paperwork (invoices, or flying logs) often goes missing because somebody wants it to go missing; a keen buyer who fell in love with the plane (especially after travelling a long way to see it) will assume “it must be ok” so this trick usually works.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Most EU member states do not require VAT records to be kept for more than 6 years; this period is for each MS to determine, per Article 247 of COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the (somewhat ) common system of value added tax:

Each Member State shall determine the period throughout which taxable persons must ensure the storage of invoices relating to the supply of goods or services in its territory and invoices received by taxable persons established in its territory.

So, under any tolerable system of justice, all you need to show is that, on the balance of probability, the aircraft has been in the customs territory of the Union for >X years.

Glenswinton, SW Scotland, United Kingdom

under any tolerable system of justice

Maybe that’s the problem. In the UK you have to keep records for 6 years or so, and after that a genuine error (by either side) is exempt from being re-opened (that’s the short version) but if there has been a substantial non-declaration (including what they allege is fraud) they can go back as far as they like, and anecdotally up to 20 years has been reported. There was also a VAT amnesty on imported aircraft; a search will find some posts. But we have no info to go on in this case, so everybody is typing and typing…

But really the bottom line is which country will this plane be operated in, and what reg it is. If N-reg then you have to be much more careful.

@Niner_Mike Many previous aircraft VAT threads… merged.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Jacko wrote:

Most EU member states do not require VAT records to be kept for more than 6 years; this period is for each MS to determine, per Article 247 of COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the (somewhat ) common system of value added tax:

That is true for goods that have been imported and never left the customs area since. There it makes some sense to assume after a certain time that all import duties have been paid if there is no evidence to assume otherwise.

Aircraft, however, tend to leave the customs area from time to time and one wants to “reimport” them without paying additional VAT. Therefore it is important to have some proof of paid VAT. That proof can come in different forms beyond a direct receipt for payment. Some CAAs, e.g., would not list an aircraft in the national aircraft registry (and give them a registration) if VAT has not been paid. Therefore a registration in such a country is a strong evidence of VAT being paid.
Also if at some point in history of the plane a private owner has bought it from a commercial seller within the customs union, VAT has been paid as well.

On the other side: If it is an n-reg where no evidence of VAT payment can be found, as a buyer I would act (and make my offer) as if VAT has not been paid so far. Anything else would be gambling…

Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

Some CAAs, e.g., would not list an aircraft in the national aircraft registry (and give them a registration) if VAT has not been paid.

When transferring registration from MS A to MS B, I got the MS A CAA to write to MS B customs “the law requires us (and did require us at the time) to check customs and VAT status before registering the plane, so we must have done it. The papers are now in the central state archive, and are difficult to retrieve, so we don’t send you a copy.” MS B customs still wasn’t happy, and wanted the “import into EU” redone.

ELLX

17 N-regs confiscated in Italy due to “omitted” import VAT payment

At least that‘s what it sounds like. But so far, I have only read this Italian article which one can browser-translate into English.

So carry your paperwork…

Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany
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