Looking for info on living abroad in Europe

[sailor0500]

Hi,

 

I'm thinking of taking my boat over to Europe in a year or two and am looking for any useful sources of info. I'll have the boat taken over by lorry so don't need to worry about crossing the channel and would plan to live aboard in Europe for a few years.

I lived and cruised aboard in France for 12 years. No problems except once you have been there for longer than six months in any year ( You not the boat) you must register to pay French Taxes and Health Insurance. Do not think you can get away with this. You wont and the longer it is before they find you ( and they will ) the greater the penalties. Also don't think you can do six months in one EU country then cross the border into another EU country. You will not be considered to be UK resident but resident in the country in which you spent the longest time in the previous 12 months. They will latch onto what you are doing and once again the penalties do not bear thinking about. I have friends who were hit twice with these penalties and had to borrow money from relatives to extricate themselves and their boat from France.

Obey the rules. Register for taxes in the country where you will spend the most time and then enjoy yourselves.

PS. Don't think because you are not working that you need not register. It is obligatory to make a tax return every twelve months and failure to do so will involve large penalties.

Edited December 2, 2016 by sailor0500