Buying or selling boats in another country
If you are buying a boat in another country, you may have to pay customs duty, VAT and any other taxes. You may have to notify Swedish Customs if you are selling a boat.
In a country outside the EU
F-gases and ozone-depleting substances
When buying or selling a boat outside the EU, there are rules regarding substances that affect the greenhouse effect or the ozone layer that you must follow:
- Fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases)
- Ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
The aim is to reduce emissions by phasing out the sale of products and equipment containing the substances.
What do you need to know and do?
There is already a sales ban on many different goods. This also means that they are prohibited from being brought into or out of Sweden.
Goods that may be covered when buying a boat include:
- Refrigerators
- Fire extinguishers
- Air conditioning systems.
What you need to do
Before you reach the border or preparing to depart from a port or other point of departure:
- Find out whether there are any items on board the boat that are covered by the regulations on F-gases or ozone-depleting substances. You can do this by checking the product description or an excerpt from the boat's technical specifications or instruction manual.
- If the boat is covered by the regulations, you will need to obtain an EORI number and register with one of the EU-wide tools: the F-Gas Portal or the ODS Portal. You need to do this even if you use a customs representative to handle your customs clearance. When you submit a tax return, you do so as a private individual and should use your own social security number instead of your EORI number. You must include the registration number you have been given via the F-Gas portal or the ODS portal in the tax return you submit.
When you contact the customs clearance office:
- Inform Swedish Customs the goods covered by the rules for F-gases or ozone-depleting substances used in the boat.
Buying or selling a boat in a country outside the EU
Buying a boat
If you buy a boat in a country outside the EU, such as Norway or the UK, you will pay both customs duty and VAT.
If you buy a boat from an area that belongs to the EU Customs Union but lies outside the EU tax territory, such as Åland, you will only pay VAT.
You must declare the boat immediately upon crossing the border or arriving at a port or other point of entry. This should be done to the customs authority in the country where the boat is brought into the EU.
In order for Swedish Customs or any other EU Customs Authority to calculate the duties and clear the boat through customs, you must bring the following:
- Your purchase invoice
- Your sales contract
- A receipt or other document proving the boat’s value
- The foreign registration certificate for the boat.
Duties
The rate of customs duty for boats may vary. The VAT rate is 25 per cent. If you register the boat in Sweden, as a private individual you pay all duties to Swedish Customs.
Swedish Customs will calculate your customs duty based on the following:
- The purchase price
- Shipping costs
- Insurance
- Handling costs arising from transporting your goods to the EU border.
Swedish Customs will calculate the VAT on the costs listed in the points above, including your customs duties.
Declare the import yourself
If you choose to handle your customs declaration yourself, you can provide the information on a form and lodge it at a customs office where a customs officer will help you enter the declaration into our import system.
Data for manual customs declarations for imports pdf, 162.1 kB.
If you have several different types of goods, you may also need a continuation form.
Data for manual customs declaration Import – Supplement sheet pdf, 135.6 kB.
Use our guide to know what to write in the different fields of the form.
Guide for manual customs declaration for imports (in Swedish)
Selling a boat
If you are selling your boat to someone in a country outside the EU, you must declare it for export to Swedish Customs before the boat is taken out of Sweden.
You must submit the export declaration at your nearest customs clearance office, providing details of the exporter, such as their social security number and address. The boat must be on site or in a port or other point of departure for any checks that may be carried out.
If you wish to purchase a boat tax-free for export, that is, to reclaim VAT on goods you are exporting to a country outside the EU, you should contact a boat dealer.
Declare the export yourself
The Single Administrative Document (SAD)
Declaration guide for export declarations on paper (in Swedish)
In another EU country
If you buy a boat in another EU country and it is classified as new under the Swedish Tax Agency’s rules, you may in some cases have to pay VAT in Sweden.
If you sell a boat to a person in another EU country, you do not need to report this to Swedish Customs.
Is the country part of the EU?
If you are unsure whether the country you are trading with is an EU Member State or not – here is a list of all EU countries.