Florida license question

[CHM]

If the dinghy had no motor then you do not have to register it. As soon as you attach an engine, then it needs to be registered (and titled). Even small dinks are assigned hull identification numbers these days. Coast Guard documentation guidelines are available online and the vessel needs to be a certain tonnage if memory serves.


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[hellosailor]

scatter-
There's nothing unique to Florida about this. Same rules apply to cars and boats. If you bought a classic car and it came with a pair of fuzzy dice signed by Elvis, the dice might be worth ten grand but that doesn't affect the value of the car. One is the vehicle, the other is personal property.
On registration, they can and often will look up the "book" value of the vehicle. If the book value is $20,000 and that normally includes the mast, rigging, and working engine? That's what they'll demand tax on. Book values DO NOT include any personal property or accessories that have been added, and if you want to ensure a difference, the standard is that anything you can take off the boat and pile up on the ground, can be considered personal property and purchased separately to split the values from the boat. So, electronics? New cushions? Anchors? Sails?
Take 'em off, pile 'em up. Take a photo and write up a separate bill of sale with some basis for the values. New North Sails bought for $5000 last year? OK, maybe take 85% of that. Five year old generics, that Bacon sells for $1800? That's another way to do it.
As long as you keep it within reason, the tax men won't argue too much. Of course, you also have to get the seller to agree, and you have to do the unloading and loading, if you really want to make sure the personal property isn't lumped in with the one "boat" sale.
Dingy...$500. Outboard, $1000. But if they were sold as a "motor boat" or part of it...they'd get taxed.