Engine overhaul / repair shop recommendation

In my business, industrial electronics, if we export to France, we don’t charge VAT. Same as export to the US, Botswana, etc.

Re what N-M do, I suggest you phone them up But I can tell you that if we charged VAT, the customer would give us a hammering!

Pre brexit we would charge 20% VAT unless the customer supplied a valid VAT number, but that scheme is finished now. All our exports are now zero rated. As outlined in the brexit thread linked earlier there are differences for retail facing businesses, for transactions below some figure, but that would not apply to an engine overhaul (and likewise shipper documentation charges, of the order of tens of € unless somebody is taking the p1ss, would be immaterial on a job of that value).

If you had to pay VAT in the past that would suggest you (or whoever was N-M’s immediate customer) did not have a VAT number, did not supply it to N-M, or the one they supplied did not validate on the validation database.

Peter is correct, there is a special process to send something out for repairs. It is called “repair and report” and it needs a specific customs code, so best check with a customs office or agency. If I understand correctly, you’ll still be taxed on the new parts and possibly work performed, but I am not an expert on the subject.

If you are not VAT registered then you pay VAT for both UK work and EU work.

@Airborne _Again our club is not VAT registered either. We have not had to do an overhaul for some years as we operate DA40’s and the engines are changed at TBR by a maintenance facility on the airfield so everything is familiar to us. However, we also have a non VAT registered Owners club on the field. Most operate with Rotax engines but some do have Lycoming or Continental engines. It appears I was the last one to have an overhaul at N-M for the left engine on my (then) PA44, and I am being asked for advice. It was a few years before Brexit and then I got the on airfield maintenance facility to dismount and later re fit the engine, a transport company to crate the engine and take it to the UK, and the overhaul done by N-M. All went well, but each of the 3 elements had to be booked and paid for separately.
From Peter’s post things might be a lot simpler now and maybe cheaper. So thanks to all for your contribution.

I think my point is that brexit changes nothing for engine work. The end customer has to pay VAT regardless, and can claim it back if VAT registered.

The only way for a non VAT registered customer to avoid paying VAT is to use an engine shop which is not VAT registered, which basically means a one man band who is probably running a tax fraud And this is not related to UK or EU.

It won’t surprise me if some intermediaries will use the “brexit” opportunity to shaft people. Many are getting seriously rich out of CV19; human ingenuity has no limits

you’ll still be taxed on the new parts and possibly work performed

Indeed; this is standard with using US shops, which is done a lot in Europe. You ship the engine to the US (with an invoice which the shipper demands, showing some nominal value like $10k, or whatever you insured it for; nobody pays duty on the figure anyway because aircraft parts are shipped duty free, and the US has no VAT) and when it comes back it comes back with an invoice for the work done, say $30k for an IO540. You pay import VAT on that 30k. Replace US with UK (or Botswana, etc) and you get the same.

As an aside, what you can’t get from a US shop is a fake-value invoice, say showing a $30k overhaul at $10k. Americans really hate being asked to do that sort of thing. The US also hammers European companies over bribery. I am not sure why, because the whole world does it routinely, and Europe does it happily, in general, where getting caught is judged unlikely. It may be more possible to get a “reduced value” invoice out of a UK company, although I have never tried it (and never needed to since I am based here). Actually I doubt any UK engine shop would go along with that, due to the amounts involved.

here is a little shout out to LOMA AIR.
I recently had an issue with a brand new lycoming cylinder assembly I purchased from Airpower in the US.
The assembly is being sent back with warranty claim due to defective oil scraper ring. Airpower has been a royal pain to deal with from Europe.
LOMA not only helped me me out with my endless questions and discussions, eventually adopted my warrany claim to deal with it themselves while arranging the replacement parts and repair.

During the process I tried to get in contact with others before I called LOMA. I am still waiting for a response from Mecanair in Switzerland since my last email from 2 weeks ago. I did not hear a word back from Roeder or Dacshel in Germany. In the meanwhile LOMA responded literally within the hour, immediately put me in contact with an engine expert whom I exchanged at least 50 emails with a load of boroscope pictures until we together agreed on the next best action.

just wanted to contribute to the trail.
Baris

Hi,
I had SLI with Scan aviation this last summer on my IO540. During that, it became obvious, that I have a lot of corrosion. Documented by photos, no billshiting, job done in time. 2-week turnaround promised, delayed a bit, I got free delivery back to Budapest. I needed new cylinders, camshaft, and lifters.
After the brake-in, I have discovered that Nr2 CYL oil scraper ring not set, oil comes over the piston. I boroscoped the engine, photo sent to Scan, without any comment, they sent the replacement cylinder with all parts and gaskets.
Since that, I sent 2 engines out of Hungary to them. Good thing, they have a German subsidiary as well, they can issue a German bill. If you are private, the VAT diff is painful.

I can recommend them, They also work for KLM/ Martinair school. If you need contact message me.

Zsolt

airways wrote:

Has anybody got experience with Airmark Overhaul ?

Got a quote off Airmark there. Seemed pretty good. Does anyone have any recent or past experiences with them?

Still no other recommendation on the continent, apart from LOMA ?
I know my ex-club uses PMM Wing service sometimes.

Are all the good shops in UK or Flanders ? Is it a genetic attribute ?