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Buying a yacht in Greece
The basic steps for buying a yacht in Greece are the following:
- Initial visit/inspection of the vessel by the Buyer and his experts
- Offer and Price agreement: If the yacht is what you are looking for, then a price agreement between Buyer and Seller, subject to a successful Sea trial and Pre-purchase Condition Survey, shall take place. We will do all the negotiations aiming to a win-win solution
- Memorandum of Agreement (MOA): A yachts' legal expert -usually a yachting Lawyer, will draft of the MOA, which will be signed by both the Seller and the Buyer. In the MOA, the whole procedure will be described in detail and all the documentation required for the safe transition of ownership will be stated. The main provisions of a Memorandum of Agreement support both Buyer and Seller against any unfair accountability
- Inventory list: The Seller shall provide a full list of inventory, which shall be signed by both parties and will be part of the MOA
- Down payment: 10% of the agreed selling price, to be transferred to the Stakeholder, as per MOA terms and conditions
- Survey & Sea Trial: Pre-purchase Condition Survey, Sea Trial Performance, Engines' Inspection and shall take place. The costs for haul in/haul out, surveyor, engineers and gas are on the Buyer
- Legal examination: Examination by the Buyer's Legal expert (lawyer) of all vessels’ documentation such as, Registry, mortgages, liens, encumbrances, VAT status, Marina fees, outstanding taxes-fees, etc.)
- Bill of Sale: Signing of the original Bill of Sale and certification with Notary and Apostille
- Closing Date: Meeting for the closing of the yacht sale where the Buyer and the Seller are present (or their legal representatives). The Buyer gives instructions to his bank to pay to the Seller, with same day value date, the balance of the purchase price in the account to be designated by the Seller's instructions in the MOA
- Physical Delivery of the Yacht and relevant documents: When the balance will arrive into Seller's bank account, the Physical delivery of the yacht with all items included in the inventory and all documentation stated in the MOA, will take place. Both Buyer and Seller will sign the Protocol of Delivery and Acceptance.
- Insuring the Yacht: Buyer shall insure his new possession
- Deletion from the Greek Registry: The Seller (or his representative) will submit all the documents for the deletion of the yacht from the Greek flag, to the Greek Registries. The deletion from the Greek flag usually takes some days to be issued by the Greek Registry
- A new Transit log (DEKPA) shall be issued by the new owner, if the yacht will leave Greece by the sea
Documents required for non-EU companies buying a Yacht in Greece
- Certificate of Incorporation and Statement of Incorporation, notarized and apostilled in original
- Certificate of Good Standing, notarized and apostilled in original
- Minutes of the Board of Directors (BOD) of Buyer regarding the purchase of the yacht, notarized and apostilled in original
- Power of Attorney of the Buyer resolving the purchase of the vessel and authorizing persons to complete the sale and sign all the necessary docs, notarized and apostilled in original
- Copies of passports of the authorized persons
- Although the above represent the required documentation for making the purchase, there might be need for some additional documents.
VAT status for EU and non-EU yachts in Greece
There are three options regarding the VAT :
- If the vessel will be acquired by an EU individual or legal entity, not having commercial activity, the applicable VAT will be calculated on the purchase price of the vessel and has to be paid by the Buyer.
- If the vessel will be acquired by an EU individual or legal entity, having commercial activity and having been registered for VAT purposes in its state, the transaction will be considered as an intra-community transaction and the possible obligation for the payment of the VAT will be transferred to the Buyer. He will have to deal with the payment or not of the VAT in his country.
- If the buyer of the vessel will be a non EU individual or legal entity (US, Russian, Japanese etc) no VAT will be calculated and paid as the transaction will be considered as an exportation out of EU. In that case only a small tax declaration for exporting the boat out of EU has to be paid by the buyer.
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