vessel documentation?

[recppd]

So if I come to your house and buy some furniture from you I'm supposed to pay the state sales tax? Obviously not. This is no different as the state is NOT involved in any registration requirements, etc. I guess only time will tell...

[Pitou]

I guess only time will tell...

I documented my boat and filed MA form ST-6 and paid the sales tax. No state registration here and I'm not looking over my shoulder. Back in the early day's of Deval Patrick the DOR had dock walkers looking for documented recreational vessels and chased unpaid sales tax that way. Not sure where MA is with it this these days, but the state of CA gets reports from the Coast Guard Documentation Center and chases unpaid sales tax that way. Even John Kerry finally paid up on his documented sail boat, though he tried even more tricks by using a RI hailing port. God bless him for trying! (not that I care for JK) I've known a few boaters that run their boat to Wentworth by the Sea in New castle, NH for a few nights every 30 days to avoid it. ... It's up to you, but boats are different than furniture.

Here's an excerpt from MA DOR regarding boats:

For casual sales, the sales/use tax is due prior to registration or by the twentieth day of the following month, whichever occurs earlier. The sales/use tax on boats and other recreational vehicles must be filed and paid electronically via DOR's online ST-6 application.

And the full text:

http://www.mass.gov/dor/individuals/tax ... guide.html

[catalina_mike]

Yep pay Cesar is due.. Hate it but the people have voted for it so I try and play by the rules. We even have a escape penalty here in California that will double your property tax for year. As someone who went through a Sate Sales Tax audit they look at what you are depreciating in the company and want to see receipts documenting you paid sales tax on it. We were clean but farmers were buying equipment out of state trying to save sales tax and got caught and fined. Folks just doing their job..

[Pitou]

I hate the taxman! We can run, but we can't always hide.

I found out about the CA method of chasing down sales tax on documented vessels when the CA DOR or what ever they call themselves sent me a letter and a form for me to fill out as the seller of my 28 before they went chasing the buyer. When I called them they said that because I had provided a sales receipt of "good and valuable consideration" that was filed with the Documentation Center that they wanted to be sure that the buyer was being honest in his sales tax reporting. Man, they're vicious on the gold coast!

[rcwhite]

Not just the west coast. I received a letter from the state earlier this year requesting
that I prove we paid the sales tax. As I read the state laws at the time non commercial
documented vessels were not exempt from state registration so we maintain a state
registration as well. Since this cannot be done without proof of tax, I provided the
registration number and date of registration as proof. Not sure why they couldn't
have looked for the hull number in the state records prior to sending me the nice little
letter but.....

[catalina_mike]

Thats the one I have.

[whwells]

Catalina Mike: My understanding is that a boat purchased outside of Ca. or in Ca. with off shore delivery may not be subject to sales tax if kept out of the state for 6 months are more. If a large an expense boat that is a big deal. In Wash. boaters who purchase there will take over to Canada for 6 months and then move to Ca.
Also Wa. Non resident buyers can get a 6 months cruising permit with a one time renewal and avoid taxes there. On my Sabre purchase that was a big deal.
My son is looking at a Nordhavn in Calif. and if it gets to be more than looking it would go off shore and up to Oregon or Wash. for a year. It may then come down to the Channel Islands for a couple years before ending up in the SF Bay area. May yet see you at Catalina.

Will be attending a convention in San Diego in Jan. and have invitation from my Catalina friend for my wife and I to come over. Hoping the calendar will allow. Are you there in the off season?

whwells "Howard"

[catalina_mike]

It's a year now as I hear. Then if you are here for longer than 30 days, I think I do not know for sure that portion, they send you a tax bill. The best way to do it is a LLC and pay tax once then it is a asset of the corp and people just by the corp that comes with a boat. But really then you have the corp expences every year to maintain the corp. When you sell it might give a advantage but it will cost to keep that advantage. We have a home in Visalia where the sales tax rate doesnt have extra bond things added to it. I just don't have enough time to keep it all straight.

Yes we go all the time. Heading to the island this Friday for two weeks. Not taking the boat this trip the Commodore doesn't like worrying about the weather. We have bad memories around the 1st two years ago when I lost two friends in a storm in the harbor. Let's touch base and see if schedules allign!

[rebuckley]

This is the beauty of RI - no sales tax, no property tax - just a registration fee. I also went with documentation (mainly to avoid putting numbers on the hull outside) but it is also a very nice method for tracking the title of a boat - never any question (so they say) if they can trace documentation - which stays with the boat for life.