QUESTION FOR EUROPEAN BUILDERS

[Pilottonny]

Thanos,

I am not sure but I thought that the Tarif code is the same for the entire EU. I payed 2,7% on "aircraft parts". if you can get an "Airworthiness certificate" you do not have to pay any VAT nor import duties. Unfortunately anything "Experimental" does not have an airwirthyness certificate. You might be able to import a certified engine free of VAT and import duties that way though.

I am not sure what the VAT is in Greece. In Belgium it is 21%, one of the highest in the EU. Because the VAT is only 15% in Luxembourg (approx. 100 km away) I tried to have it shipped there, but you have to have a resident address, to do that. So I ended up paying 21% VAT, 2,7% Import duties and anything between EUR 10,- to EUR 50,- for the customs paperwork, per shipment! This also goes for a $ 200,- parcel with some small items or tools! Also the oversees shipping and insurance is quite expensive! The cheapest way will be to buy it all, pack it in a container with all your household goods and ship it in one go.

I am building the plane on a Dutch registration because the rules are a lot less stringent than in Belgium and that also reduces cost of building. To be able to build you have to be a member of the NVAV, which cost EUR 100,- a year. Flying a Dutch registered plane in Belgium is not a problem.

Regards, Tonny.

[mototopo]

Hi Thanos,

as sayd by other members, each European country has different rules. Here in Italy, I pay 1,5%-2,7% custom duty, 20% VAT plus 10-50 euros for paperworks. Kit and accessories have been imported as "parts for civilian aircraft". Don't know why but sometime I paid 2,7% in duties and sometime 1,5%.

Italian rules for experimental aircraft are very similar to US rules. Until last year, the technical ispections were performed by ENAC (the Italian FAA equivalent). Now they are performed by CAP (the Italian equivalent of EAA) and everything is going easier, cheaper and faster. An ENAC delegate is present only at the last inspection before flight test. We can fly day VFR or IFR and build either a QB or SB.

Importing a complete experimental aircraft from another country is possible within EU, I don't know if it is possible to import one form a non-EU country. I think that importing an airplane in a different country just to save on duties and VAT is not convenient because shipping rates are usually high.

[SX-ALY]

Originally Posted by pgroell

Hi Thanos,

Sorry, I have no further infos about importing or flying an N registered plane in France.


I used the followings :

• kit parts : 8803300010 : parts for civil aircraft
• engine : 8407100010 : engine for civil aircraft

You can browse the code here : http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs...archap?Lang=EN

normally you pay a 4% custom tax, but that can be waived using a special procedure

Pascal thanks for the codes, that will be useful.
As far for the procedure i meant this one:

normally you pay a 4% custom tax, but that can be waived using a special procedure

[pgroell]

normally you pay a 4% custom tax, but that can be waived using a special procedure

The procedure is called : Special destination declaration.
I don't know if this works outside France. (doesn't seem reading the belgian, italian, spanish and english contributors)
You have to do some paperwork before the crates are in the hands of the customs, then you tell them (or rather your broker does it) that you applied for the special procedure and the tax is waved.
You have to keep all the paperwork during the lifetime of the aircraft. I think it is to make sure that you are the end user and are not reselling the parts.
When applying for the procedure you get a time limit to use it unless you get an extension. You also declare the estimated value of the goods you intend to import.

[SX-ALY]

Originally Posted by Pilottonny

Thanos,

I am not sure but I thought that the Tarif code is the same for the entire EU. I payed 2,7% on "aircraft parts". if you can get an "Airworthiness certificate" you do not have to pay any VAT nor import duties. Unfortunately anything "Experimental" does not have an airwirthyness certificate. You might be able to import a certified engine free of VAT and import duties that way though.

That's very interesting! So you can import an US certified aircraft with no duties & VAT. Seems unbelievable!!
Also looks like the same TARIC code has different taxes in different countries

Originally Posted by Pilottonny

I am not sure what the VAT is in Greece. In Belgium it is 21%, one of the highest in the EU. Because the VAT is only 15% in Luxembourg (approx. 100 km away) I tried to have it shipped there, but you have to have a resident address, to do that. So I ended up paying 21% VAT, 2,7% Import duties and anything between EUR 10,- to EUR 50,- for the customs paperwork, per shipment! This also goes for a $ 200,- parcel with some small items or tools! Also the oversees shipping and insurance is quite expensive! The cheapest way will be to buy it all, pack it in a container with all your household goods and ship it in one go.

I am building the plane on a Dutch registration because the rules are a lot less stringent than in Belgium and that also reduces cost of building. To be able to build you have to be a member of the NVAV, which cost EUR 100,- a year. Flying a Dutch registered plane in Belgium is not a problem.

Regards, Tonny.

Greece has 19%.
It was able to you to built under a Dutch registration without having a Dutch residential address? (like the shipping issues)

Originally Posted by mototopo

Hi Thanos,

as sayd by other members, each European country has different rules. Here in Italy, I pay 1,5%-2,7% custom duty, 20% VAT plus 10-50 euros for paperworks. Kit and accessories have been imported as "parts for civilian aircraft". Don't know why but sometime I paid 2,7% in duties and sometime 1,5%.

Italian rules for experimental aircraft are very similar to US rules. Until last year, the technical ispections were performed by ENAC (the Italian FAA equivalent). Now they are performed by CAP (the Italian equivalent of EAA) and everything is going easier, cheaper and faster. An ENAC delegate is present only at the last inspection before flight test. We can fly day VFR or IFR and build either a QB or SB.

Importing a complete experimental aircraft from another country is possible within EU, I don't know if it is possible to import one form a non-EU country. I think that importing an airplane in a different country just to save on duties and VAT is not convenient because shipping rates are usually high.

Ciao,
Claudio, seems that you have one of the best regulations out there in EU.
Thanks for the info. I was wondering if i can built under Italian registration for the reasons Tonny said before for Belgium & Dutch.
Italy is a couple of hours from Corfu, Greece, easily accessible by air or ship.

Also is a good reason to refresh my Italian i learned years ago

Arrivederla

Thanos

[mototopo]

Ciao Thanos,
if you need more informations about the procedure and paperwork, you can contact the CAP

I don't know if they can assist the building process outside Italy even if you will register the plane in Italy, but you can try.

[Pilottonny]

Originally Posted by SX-ALY

Greece has 19%.
It was able to you to built under a Dutch registration without having a Dutch residential address? (like the shipping issues)
Thanos

Yes, it is not a problem, the NVAV accepts foreign buiders, as long as they are not to far away from the Dutch border. I guess Greece will not be accepted, though. Since a member of the NVAV will have to visit the builder a few times during construction, that is not going to be very practical.

Regards, Tonny.

[penguin]

In England if you register with your local customs office you can be exempt from paying import duty (4%) on aircraft parts. If a UK shipping agent were used that is familiar with kit aircraft (eg BigMisters, http://www.bigmisters.co.uk/, imports@bigmisters.co.uk), they would apply for the exemption. VAT at 15% is still payable.

I lived in Texas for 5 years so was able to bring back to the UK a flying RV-6 and RV-7 kit as my own property and paid no import tax or VAT. If you were not resident abroad, and then did not return to be resident in England I think it would be difficult to get this dispensation - several forms to fill out - the Customs men have wide ranging powers and use them forcefully.

The TARIC codes are on line, I think I used the ones quoted earlier.

The UK VAT rate is increasing to 17.5% in a years time.

Pete

[Pirkka]

I think this has been going over and over many times. With the proper TARIC codes (mentioned earlier) you can avoid duties. That VAT is different thing but best to ask from the one who collects it.

I recently didn't pay any duties, only VAT. To use code with 0 % duty I needed something called "end use permit" -- I never saw it as all the custom facilities etc. were taken care by forwarding agency.

[flyvans.com]

interesting info...

here in switzerland you pay only 7.6% VAT on anything.
plus customs fees depending on item (these are usually quite low or even zero)
and of course the shipping on all the items from the U.S.
we figure about 10% of the total finished airplane costs added just for shipping and handling and it looks about right. higher portion for shipping for small items like spruce orders and lower portion for the big items like kit and engine.
so figure 17.6% added cost over what a kitplane would cost in the U.S. completed.
the reason that the customs fees are usually zero is an international treaty back from the 70's agreeing on no customs for airplane and airplane engine parts. we had no problems declaring everything as either "airplane part" or "airplane engine" so far. except for things like tools etc...

now regarding the trading of flying experimental aircraft from one register to another in europe, that's close to impossible :-( we looked into that when i helped a friend sell his experimental.
once it's registered in a country, with current regulations, it practically has to stay on that register. however, assuming a jar-fcl license, it should be no problem to fly that foreign registered aircraft in your home country. the only problem would be to fulfill whatever national requirements the registers have. e.g. ownership, residential permit, taxation etc... information on that is also not very transparent and not freely available :-(

regarding experimental limits in switzerland,
they are currently (among other) day vfr only, max 4 seats and rv quickbuild allowed (because they can still be inspected on the interior) and membership in the eas.
there have been attempts for nvfr and ifr registrations and they are no longer categorically impossible, however it's not quite clear how it works and what exactly would have to be fulfilled.
official web of the EAS (experimental aviation switzerland) is www.experimental.ch

while a lot of the oversight is delegated to the EAS, the final inspection and since recently also the condition inspections are to be done by the FOCA (Federal Office for Civil Aviation) with their respective costs :-(

rgds,
bernie