LA sales tax

[BobHorn]

Recently bought a boat in FL and got the 90 day tax exemption. Boat is currently in LA waiting for better weather to move it to TX. Was told at one point that I could register the boat in LA with no sales tax liability if it was a person to person sale, which it was. Now I'm told by others that the law was changed last May and sales tax would be due. Trying to contact any government office has proven very frustrating with no one seeming to know the answer or referring us to another office. Sales Tax Office has a 2 -3 week response time to emails.
Thinking of just ignoring the issue until March or April when we will be moving the boat to TX.
Thanks,
Bob

[Montanan]

It appears that you will not incur LA sales tax liability on your purchase of the boat under the "casual sale" exemption. You will incur use 6.25% use tax liability to the State of Texas due within 20 working days after the taxable boat is brought into Texas.

As to LA registration, of keen issue is the length of stay your vessel will be in Louisiana State waters. If the vessels stay is 90 or fewer days then it does not require registration, AS LONG AS IT HAS BEEN PRESENTLY REGISTERED IN ANOTHER STATE, e.g., Texas.

Is your recently purchased vessel validly registered, if so, in which state?

Will your vessel remain in LA for no more than 90 days during its transit from FL or TX?

If your vessel is not presently validly registered in another State, and / or if the vessel remains in LA for 90 days then legally it will need to be registered in LA.

You must have a Louisiana Certificate of Number (registration) and validation decals to operate a motorboat or sailboat legally on public waters. A motorboat is defined as any vessel equipped with or propelled by any type of machinery whether or not such machinery is the principal source of propulsion.

The only exceptions are:
A sailboat 12 feet or less in length
A sailboard
A motorboat/sailboat documented with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), unless it is a recreational use vessel
A motorboat/sailboat with valid registration in another state or country, on the waters of Louisiana for 90 or fewer consecutive days
The Certificate of Number must be on board and available for inspection by an enforcement officer whenever the vessel is operated.

LA Sales tax owed will depend on the type of sale.

https://revenue.louisiana.gov/FAQ/Qu...sAndAnswers/60

Isolated or Casual Sales:

Taxed at 4% on purchases from April 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016. Exempt on purchases prior to April 1, 2016, or after June 30, 2016.
Louisiana R.S.47:301(10)(c)(ii) excludes isolated or occasional sales from the definition of "retail sale", when the property is sold by persons who do not hold themselves out to be dealers of such items.
Person to person sales of boats (includes out-of-state) - a boat purchased from a prior owner or someone not in the business of selling boats is considered an isolated or occasional sale.
The prior owner’s title, certificate of origin, or Wildlife and Fisheries registration certificate must be properly signed over to the new owner with a notarized bill of sale signed by both parties.

Texas Use Tax: I suspect you will need to provide proof of payment of the Texas use tax before you can register it in Texas.

BOAT AND BOAT MOTOR SALES AND USE TAX
If you bought a boat in Texas, you'll owe sales tax. If you brought a boat into Texas from outside the state, you'll owe use tax. Details about sales tax and use tax follow.

Who is responsible for boat and boat motor sales tax?
The purchaser of a taxable boat or boat motor in Texas is responsible for paying the boat and boat motor sales tax. If the purchaser pays the tax to a licensed Texas dealer, the tax becomes the responsibility of the dealer.

If the dealer did not collect the tax, or if the boat or boat motor was purchased from someone who is not a dealer, the purchaser must pay the tax directly to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department or to a county tax assessor-collector within 20 working days from the date the taxable boat or boat motor is delivered to the purchaser. It is paid at the time of boat registration.

Tax Rate
6 1/4 (.0625) percent of sales price minus any trade-in allowance of another taxable boat or boat motor.

Due Date
Boat sales tax is due within 20 working days from delivery.

Who is responsible for boat and boat motor use tax?
Boat and boat motor use tax is due on any taxable boat or boat motor purchased outside Texas and brought into Texas. The user is responsible for paying the tax to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department or to a county tax assessor-collector within 20 working days after the date that the taxable boat or boat motor is brought into Texas.

Tax Rate
6 1/4 (.0625) percent use tax less credit for taxes paid to another state, unless the $15 new resident tax applies.

Due Date
Boat use tax is due within 20 working days from the date the boat or motor is brought into the state.

Enjoy your new boat.

[BobHorn]

WOW, how, if I may ask, did you obtain this wealth of information? Our documentation lady in TX has been making phone calls for some weeks now and the only real response was from the Sales Tax Division telling her she would get an email response in two to three weeks.
The boat is not currently registered in TX so what I gather from your response, I have 90 days to get out of LA, whether or not it is registered in TX, is that correct?


We plan to not move the boat till the end of March or early April at which point we will have overstayed the 90 days having been in LA since the beginning of December.


Going to the web site you listed, I should submit the form R-1331 to the Parish first and then to the state? Mail it to the Parish and they will mail it back? Hand carry it to the Parish? The boat is in Slidell, not sure of the Parish.


Many thanks for your response, we'll work it out somehow.


Bob

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by BobHorn

WOW, how, if I may ask, did you obtain this wealth of information? Answer: Googled.Our documentation lady in TX has been making phone calls for some weeks now and the only real response was from the Sales Tax Division telling her she would get an email response in two to three weeks. Ha, that is better than much of the Federal government given its Trumpeddown.
The boat is not currently registered in TX so what I gather from your response, I have 90 days to get out of LA, whether or not it is registered in TX, is that correct? That is correct. But often boats and cars go unregistered for longer periods and do not get caught, in which case it is usually just a fix it ticket but they may apply fines. Once you register property and excise taxes may also apply because the "parish" / county now know your taxable asset is in their jurisdiction.

Any payment of use tax to LA should be credited against the higher tax due in Texas based on reciprocity. Albeit there may be an additional $15 new resident fee in Texas [or perhaps worst case Texas does NOT credit new residents for payment of sales / use tax in other states. You should further investigate what exactly this means: "Tax Rate
6 1/4 (.0625) percent use tax less credit for taxes paid to another state, unless the $15 new resident tax applies."


We plan to not move the boat till the end of March or early April at which point we will have overstayed the 90 days having been in LA since the beginning of December.


Going to the web site you listed, I should submit the form R-1331 to the Parish first and then to the state? Mail it to the Parish and they will mail it back? Hand carry it to the Parish? The boat is in Slidell, not sure of the Parish. Never had the privilege of being in LA, I suspect a call to the Parish revenue agent is in order to determine the procedure.

Out of curiosity, what kind of weather is limiting your movement of the vessel, hasn't hurricane season ended? Reference image below.

Many thanks for your response, we'll work it out somehow.


Bob

All the best, from the Last Best Place.

We don't have any sales or use taxation in Montana for anything. The lack of tax, often becomes an issue when first dealing with our company's out of state suppliers who automatically request a sales and use tax exemption certificate from our company, but for which there is no such document in Montana. We have to explain that there is no tax due then all is good.

[BobHorn]

Hurricane season is over but the Gulf of Mexico can get really ugly this time of year. Depending on the wind, we could be out there for four to five days so would rather wait till spring.
At one point we considered leaving the boat in LA because there are more places to go cruising from there. But the boat needs a lot more work than anticipated and that would be easier to do having it close by in TX. A slip in Kemah would be about one and a half hours from home as opposed to six hours to Slidell.

[Montanan]

Bob,

Did not realize that the Gulf of Mexico has a tendency to blow hard in the winter, I thought it was relatively calm except for warm tropical events. But at least it must remain mild as to temperatures in the winter. Not too many snow days. The first time I saw the title of your post "Sales Tax LA" I thought of the City of Angels, not Louisiana.

Are you per chance a "new resident" of Texas? There appears to be a specific exemption to the levy of use tax is you are a new resident and bringing a boat into Texas that was purchased in another state. See below.

The use tax in Texas is 6.25% at the State levy and up to 2% additional for local levies. So glad to not have any sales taxes here under the Big Sky, the price is the price.

Additional useful reference to the Comptroller of the State of Texas, which website has further links.

https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/...ons/94-170.php

Most relevant parts there of:

Out-of-State and New Resident Purchases
A Texas resident who buys a boat or boat motor in another state and brings it into Texas owes the 6.25 percent boat and boat motor use tax. The buyer can receive credit for tax legally due and paid in another state for a boat or boat motor brought into Texas when titling and registering the boat.

A new Texas resident who brings a boat or boat motor into Texas qualifies for a $15 new resident tax instead of the 6.25 percent boat and boat motor use tax. Reference to $15 new resident tax in lieu of 6.25% use tax. https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/D...60.htm#160.023 There is a similar new resident tax on vehicles which is only $90 if the new resident purchases a car in another state in lieu of the 6.25% use tax levied on all other residents of Texas. I guess it pays to be a newbie Texacan. Kind of like a welcoming gift.

The buyer pays the tax when obtaining the boat’s title and registration from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department or participating County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office.

Out-of-State Purchases
Use tax is due on a boat purchased in another state and brought into Texas within one year of purchase. Credit can be taken for tax legally due and paid in another state for a boat brought into Texas. See Rule 3.338, Multistate Tax Credits and Allowance of Credit for Tax Paid to Suppliers, for information on how to apply the credit and determine the use tax due.

The buyer must pay any use tax due to the Comptroller’s office using Form 01-156, Texas Use Tax Return (PDF). If the buyer has a Texas sales and use tax permit, the buyer can pay it on their next sales and use tax return.

Code reference:

Sec. 160.022. USE TAX. (a) A use tax is imposed on a taxable boat or motor purchased at retail outside this state and used in this state or brought into this state for use by a Texas resident or other person who is domiciled or doing business in this state. The tax is an obligation of and shall be paid by the person who uses the boat or motor in this state or brings the boat or motor into this state.

(b) The tax rate is 6-1/4 percent of the total consideration.


Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 5, Sec. 7.01, eff. Oct. 1, 1991.


Sec. 160.023. NEW RESIDENT. (a) A use tax is imposed on a new resident of this state who brings into this state for use in this state a taxable boat or motor that has been purchased and owned by the new resident in any other state or foreign country.

(b) The tax is $15 for each taxable boat or motor.

(c) The tax imposed by this section is in lieu of the tax imposed by Section 160.022.


Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 5, Sec. 7.01, eff. Oct. 1, 1991.

[BobHorn]

The Gulf may not be cold but it sure can get rough. Once out there, there is no place to turn to. We would be doing the fairways around the Mississippi delta and that would put us about 100 nm off the coast. That area is full of rigs and wells and not somewhere you would want to go except in the fairways.


Been a TX resident for more years than I care to remember. Past boats were always bought in TX from a TX broker, so the broker always took care of the paperwork and collected the sales tax.


The trip from Dunedin, FL, to Slidell, LA should have been four days, it took us a week and a half because we kept having to head into an anchorage to get out of the weather, 20-25 knots from the North and in the 40s, was not fun. As I mentioned, from Slidell to Galveston Bay there is no escape once you are out there.


Bob

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by BobHorn

Going to the web site you listed, I should submit the form R-1331 to the Parish first and then to the state? Mail it to the Parish and they will mail it back? Hand carry it to the Parish? The boat is in Slidell, not sure of the Parish.

Slidell /slaɪˈdɛl/ is a city on the northeast shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, United States. FYI: Slidell and the Parish were formerly a part of the Republic of West Florida - The Original Lone Star Republic see flag below, which would make for a unique yacht flag. [POF, Texacans your great republic was not the original Lone Starred Republic in the Americas]. Link to boat titling and registration procedures and online forms, tax and fees, mailing address. https://www.dmv.org/la-louisiana/boat-registration.php

I Googled images of the Slidell, it looks like a fine affluent waterfront community where it would be truly handy to own a boat [or an amphibious vehicle]. Notedly not a lot of freeboard in the housing developments, hence appears to be prone to flooding, kind of like Venice; also not many hills or mountains about, would seem difficult to keep one's bearings without nearby tall visual references, ahh but then I've become a mountain boy.

All the best.

[BobHorn]

We picked the marina in Slidell because it the only marina on the LA and MS Gulf Coast that has floating docks. That way we don't have to worry about adjusting lines. I'm not sure I would want to leave the boat there in case of a close hurricane strike. I imagine that during Katrina the whole area where the marina is located was under water. The marina is in an area which I think was a swamp, they dredged a basin and are building houses and condos around it.
If you google Lakeshore Marina you might come up with a sattalite view. It is just south of I-10 on the southeast corner of Lake Pontchartrain.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by BobHorn

The Gulf may not be cold but it sure can get rough. Once out there, there is no place to turn to. We would be doing the fairways around the Mississippi delta and that would put us about 100 nm off the coast. That area is full of rigs and wells and not somewhere you would want to go except in the fairways.


Been a TX resident for more years than I care to remember. Past boats were always bought in TX from a TX broker, so the broker always took care of the paperwork and collected the sales tax.


The trip from Dunedin, FL, to Slidell, LA should have been four days, it took us a week and a half because we kept having to head into an anchorage to get out of the weather, 20-25 knots from the North and in the 40s, was not fun. As I mentioned, from Slidell to Galveston Bay there is no escape once you are out there.


Bob

Temperatures in the 40's, that be balmy weather and spring clothing attire time.

Hmm, 100 nm off the coast, why would one transit so far away from the weather shore, if the wind is from the north doesn't that make for modest fetch and low swell / waves while traversing east and west close to the shoreline, say in sight of the beaches?

Likely revealing my "up-Nort" ignorance: What is a fairway? I am familiar with that term from golfing, I suspect it has another nautical meaning when gulfing?

[BobHorn]

A fairway is a path that is free of obstructions like drilling rigs, oil well structures and such. While most of those structures are on the charts and most would show up on radar it would be rather tiring to thread your way through them, especially at night. And the key word being "most".

[Montanan]

Bob, having now read an older post about navigating the ICW and the vast number of well platforms I now understand what a fairway is. Not sure how wide the fairway channels are, but would seem to invoke a fair [pun intended] amount of tacking depending on if the wind is from ahead instead of on the beam. At night I suspect one needs to keep a sharp eye out and preferably to utilize radar to keep position in a fairway, or I suppose one could just slalom through the hazards. I read that some platforms are not well lighted. I suspect that the platforms are good fishing places.

As to the temperature, that is all relative, when I put my sailboat back into the marina for the season beginning at the end of May, the water temperature has typically raised to the upper 40's. Whereas we like to be the first sailboat on the lake for the season so we will take our small Hobie tandem island adventure sail yak out for a trip around the islands on my birthday, May 2. The sail yak is great for taking to alpine lakes. Albeit walking the boat into the brisk water when the water temperature is in the lower to mid forties motivates one to not dilly dally when launching the boat from its trailer. My wife and I will use caution and defer to the weather that early in the season if the wind is blowing hard and the waves are more than a foot or two high when the water is that chilly as the sail yak can be a bit of a wet ride and hypothermia is a real risk. Would hate to tip the sail yak over a few miles from shore, I don't think one would survive even if one could right the trimaran from a turtled position and there are no other boaters on the lake as far as the eye can see that early in the season to come to your assistance, assuming that anyone actually saw one invert a sail yak. Search and Rescue, and the Sheriff generally do not put their boats into the marina we utilize until just before Memorial Day weekend in anticipation of the summer people arriving. It has been a very warm winter so far this year, the lake has not frozen except near some of the protected shorelines. Last year there was a lot of icing, almost the entirety of the 28 miles at times.

[Montanan]

Indeed even the fairways sound challenging.

[BobHorn]

Doing the fairways is relatively straightforward. Set a waypoint at the next turn or intersection and have the autopilot go to it. Wind is not an issue on this trip, it won't be a pleasure cruise but more like a delivery. If the wind doesn't cooperate, we have 210 gallons of diesel. We do have radar and AIS so picking up other traffic should not be an issue.

We have done the ICW going East twice. That was one time too many. We could do it going West but the problem is the two locks on the Mississippi, you really need someone at the bow and at the stern to handle lines. Getting to the back of this boat is very difficult, something we hope to correct, but with just the two of us I don't think it would be doable.
Bob

[letsgetsailing3]

From the posts here, seems like the easiest thing to do is to register the boat in Texas, and then you have 90 days before the Louisiana folks would have any qualms about it, which is plenty of time to move it, and then you're already square with Texas.