In a situation where a natural person purchases a yacht from another natural person from abroad, such an event does not give rise to VAT consequences. The situation is completely different when it is the purchase of a new yacht.

Definition of a new means of transport

According to Art. 2 point 10 of the Act of March 11, 2004 on tax on goods and services (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 931, 974, 1137, 1301, 1488, 1561, 2180, 2707 – „VAT Act” ) the means of transport is a vessel used for the transport of people or goods, with a length of more than 7.5 meters, used for no more than 100 working hours on water or no more than 3 months have passed since its release for use. The moment of release for use of a watercraft is considered to be the day on which it was issued by the manufacturer to the first buyer, or the day on which it was first used for demonstration purposes by the manufacturer.

Purchase of a new means of transport – tax liability in VAT

VAT applies to taxpayers conducting business activity. The exception to this general rule is the purchase of a new means of transport. In a situation where a new product is purchased from a seller from another EU country and then imported to Poland, we are dealing with an intra-Community acquisition of goods (IAC).

The conditions that must be met for IAC to occur are set out in Art. 9 of the VAT Act. Pursuant to the aforementioned article, the IAC is understood as the acquisition of the right to dispose of the goods as the owner, which, as a result of the delivery, were sent or transported to the territory of a Member State other than the territory of the Member State of commencement of shipment or transport by the person making the delivery, the buyer of the goods or on their behalf.

It should be emphasized that the IAC occurs when both parties to the transaction are active VAT or value added tax payers. The sale itself, however, was not taxed on a margin basis. However, the status of the seller and the buyer is irrelevant if the subject of the delivery are new means of transport. In this case, there is always IAC.

In addition, it is worth recalling that in the case of IAC, the obligation to settle the tax rests with the purchaser. This, in turn, means that a natural person from Poland purchasing a new means of transport from another EU country (e.g. from Germany) should settle VAT in Poland on this account.

Purchase of a new means of transport – the issue of paying VAT

The purchase of new means of transport, which the purchasers will register in the territory of the country or not, but will use in the territory of the country, means that the tax on such purchases should be paid within 14 days from the date when the tax obligation arose. Therefore, unlike in the case of general rules, the tax payment date is not the 25th day of the month following the month in which the tax obligation arose.

In addition, the head of the tax office should submit information on the VAT-23 form about the purchase of the yacht under the IAC, attaching a copy of the invoice confirming the purchase of the means of transport and proof of payment of the tax. In the VAT-23 information, the taxpayer indicates whether the subject of the purchase is a new means of transport and what type it is (land, floating or air vehicle).

Also within 14 days from the date when the tax obligation arose, the taxpayer must submit a VAT-10 declaration. This is a special type of VAT return on intra-Community acquisition of new means of transport.

In the VAT-10 return, the taxpayer is required to indicate the tax base and the amount of tax due to be paid to the tax office.

It should also be emphasized that in such a situation the taxpayer is obliged to pay VAT, but has no right to deduct input tax on this account. This type of entitlement is available only to active VAT payers who use the purchased goods to perform taxable activities. This is not the case in the described case, and therefore a natural person purchasing a new means of transport cannot deduct the input tax.

To sum up

• Let us remember that when talking about new means of transport, one should be guided by the definition contained in the VAT Act. However, one should not rely on the colloquial meaning of this phrase.
• In a situation where a new means of transport is purchased from another EU country, the obligation to settle the tax rests with the natural person making the IAC. As a consequence, the Polish purchaser should pay the VAT due on this account.
• Let us remember that the tax obligation in the case of intra-Community acquisition of new means of transport arises at the moment of receipt of these goods, but not later than at the moment of issuing the invoice, by the value added tax payer.
• Unlike in the case of general rules, the tax payment date is not the 25th day of the month following the month in which the tax obligation arose.