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UK Yacht Registration


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Easy enough to do yourself here https://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/commercial/ships/registration/part-B/default.asp

hardest part for you is you firstly need to de register your boat in the UK, but you will probably know how this is done, you need to send a copy of this with your application as above, it can all be done online at this end

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I was a bit unclear there. I want to re-register the yacht in the UK, but you need to be living in the UK for at least 180 days a year according to the UK Small Ships Register documentation. I would need to set up a UK company registration and supply a contact with a UK resident which is not a problem. I don't have a UK passport, only NZ and Australian. If anyone has done all this I'd like to find the best way to do it from someone who has. 

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2 hours ago, Yingtong1 said:

I was a bit unclear there. I want to re-register the yacht in the UK, but you need to be living in the UK for at least 180 days a year according to the UK Small Ships Register documentation. I would need to set up a UK company registration and supply a contact with a UK resident which is not a problem. I don't have a UK passport, only NZ and Australian. If anyone has done all this I'd like to find the best way to do it from someone who has. 

Assume you're doing this to avoid Cat 1?

As a owner and citizen you can register it in Australia without any complications of off shore directors, foreign shareholders, local directors, annual filing/company returns, tax implications and of course selling the boat, all complications you'll hit in the UK...

Just make sure when you depart NZ that you depart on your AU passport.  There could be complications if departing on a boat that you personally own and is registered in a country you're not a citizen of.

Taking the UK route you'll possibly discover that the compliance costs are higher than just getting Cat 1.

I have some friends that sailed here from the UK and now live in NZ, I will ask them what they did. 

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13 hours ago, Black Panther said:

Dr Watson on here is a NZ citizen who registered in the UK I think. 

Partly correct, Yes, NZ citizen, but the boat is registered in Jersey and owned by a German who lives in Switzerland.

Jersey is not the UK, although the Jersey Registry is (somehow) a part of the UK registry. 

The Aussie reg option is intersting. Usually, one needs the qualification required by the flag state. Do you need an Aussie license to operate an Aussie flagged vessel?

Jersey don't require the skipper to have any formal qualifications. Just a thing to think about. This is why we didn't register in Germany, nor in Switzerland. 

Regarding checking out on your NZ or AU passport; If you go to leave on your AU one, it might make life more difficult than it needs to be. In general, leave a country on the passport you used to enter.  And if you have a passport for the country you're entering, use that. I did once have to leave NZ on my UK passport because I couldn't find my NZ one... had slipped under the lining of my suitcase.  

Also an interesting point about leaving some countries to sail off over the horizon. France don't do check out... you just sail off. So if you leave France and head to a country where they expect a ZARPE... I dunno what happens. 

Problems could occur, however, if you enter Aussie using your Aussie passport on an Aussie registered boat you own because they might decide you're about to become a resident and then charge you GST+Customs for the import. For most tax purposes and in most tax jurisdictions, it's your residency that determines how the tax man takey takey. For that reason, you might want to consider Jersey (and not UK proper). As an NZ citizen, Jersey registry is open to you. 

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1 hour ago, DrWatson said:

if you enter Aussie using your Aussie passport on an Aussie registered boat you own because they might decide you're about to become a resident and then charge you GST+Customs for the import. 

In Australia they can get NZ citizens and Australian citizens to lodge a bond for the gst+customs which is refunded if you leave within the time period.  This can be applied to NZ Citizens bringing a boat to Australia as well because NZ citizens have (second-class) permanent residency in Australia.

If you have a clear and documented departure date and visiting plan, then they might not bother with the bond.

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