URGENT !! LA taxing me even though boat NOT in LA

[dwedeking2]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Ken

This why you should register (Document) your boat with the U.S. Coast Guard. Never, ever, register it with any State.

Most states require you to register if you are in the state for a set period (length depends on state). I've also heard of CA going after taxes on boats because the hailing port (basically a vanity data point at this time) on the CG document was in CA.

The point is that CA uses any connection no matter how small to attach their tax code to your wallet. Best just to avoid the state (IMO).

[rmesfo]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

In California, personal property tax is assessed by the County where the property is located. Note, however, if you renewed your State Vessel registration showing your new home address in LA County, the LA tax assessor assumes the boat is situated in LA County. Unfortunately, getting that straightened out can be really difficult and will likely be compounded by the County Tax Assessor where the boat is actually situated sending you a tax bill as well. They do so by having "Tax Inspectors" walk the docks in marinas and recording CF numbers and then billing owners regardless of where they are living.

California is a veracious tax venue. We continued getting property tax bills and threatening letters from the LA County Tax Assessor on our boat for 3 years after we relocated to south Florida, despite having sent copies of our Florida registration; and, copies of our marina invoices together with photos of the yacht moored in front of our Club here, none of which made any difference to LA. One character actually warned me that if they didn't get "their money", I would be subject to arrest if I ever returned to California! (So, we moved the Company here and had done with the place entirely!)

In short--Good Luck!

Airplanes work the same way in California. It is personal property tax and is taxed by the county where it is physically located even if you live somewhere else. A visual check is done once a year and that is the basis of the tax bill and you have to have proof of it's location. Usually a slip fee should suffice. Also, are you getting a personal property tax bill from your present location? If you are and your boat is there and you have the slip fees receipt you can fight the LA one. Some counties even prorate it. Stick it to the man if you can!

[Colin A]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Ken

This why you should register (Document) your boat with the U.S. Coast Guard. Never, ever, register it with any State.

Many states still require registration. As said they have inspectors that check with marinas and yacht clubs to ensure that all boats docked or moored over a certain time are registered with the state. Here in CT it's only 60 days then you have to register, luckily we don't have property tax on boats here.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Ken

This why you should register (Document) your boat with the U.S. Coast Guard. Never, ever, register it with any State.

That will not save you in California as they, IE county tax assessors will search the CG site for the address to send the yearly property tax.

For the LA case, You will most likely need to send a photocopy the county tax bill where the boat is kept along with a mooring agreement. Sadly it's quite common. When you move the boat to a different county (easy to do in the SF bay area) you will need to do the tax shuffle again.

Property tax in CA is owed based on where the boat was berthed on 1201 am on Jan 1 of the tax year.

[Flyingriki]

Kalifornia is tough on taxes, and often very unreasonable. Found this while looking into Documenting versus registering:

Why would you want to document your yacht? First, in some cases it may eliminate the need for state registration (though you’ll usually still have to pay the state the same taxes; this isn’t a “dodge”).

There may also be some tax savings, but you’ll need to check with your state to find out the preferred tax status for documented vessels. The one-time documentation charge is $133.00, versus recurring annual state fees which are often based on a sliding scale using boat length. Remember, however, that documentation doesn’t carry over to dinghies or tenders—these still need to be registered with the appropriate state.

Read more: Yacht Registration vs. Documentation « www.yachtworld.com www.yachtworld.com

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by Flyingriki

There may also be some tax savings, but you’ll need to check with your state to find out the preferred tax status for documented vessels. The one-time documentation charge is $133.00, versus recurring annual state fees which are often based on a sliding scale using boat length. Remember, however, that documentation doesn’t carry over to dinghies or tenders—these still need to be registered with the appropriate state.

Read more: Yacht Registration vs. Documentation « www.yachtworld.com www.yachtworld.com

Acually the registration fee for a CA boat is only $20 for two years. So the sticker price is not too bad. Property taxes are somewhere around 1% of value (per year) which can be annoying.

For the liveaboard in California, you can claim a homestead exemption with the county tax assessor office. Just list a description of the boat in the deed description on the form. That's only for people that live full time on their boats.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by pcmm

Hmm, Glad I'm in Canada ( don't mean to hijack this, just interested!) I pay annually for a sticker for the license plate on my car $104 CAD but nothing at all on my boat. only the sales tax from the purchase, that's it!

Enjoy it while you can, sooner or later you Canada (or the Province, or both) will get around to taxing your boat. Somebody has to pay for all that "free" health care...

BTW, personal property tax on yachts (and aircraft) is probably more the norm than the exception, all over the developed world, and most jurisdictions have it as a component in other vehicle registration, so the higher the value of the car, truck, whatever, the higher the reg fees. A lot of people in California try to purchase and register their high $ vehicles in neighboring states, but that is considered defrauding the state, and the DMV has investigators that go after them. I'm sure the same thing happens in New York and Massachusetts, too.

[redhead]

We lived in NY and the boat lived in FL. NY tried to get sales tax from us.

I just photocopied checks to the yard in FL (we agreed on quarterly), faxed them, and the case was dropped. A year later, I got the same letter from NY State.

After resolution, make sure you get a "case has been dropped" letter from whatever department you are dealing with.

[Valmika]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Ken

This why you should register (Document) your boat with the U.S. Coast Guard. Never, ever, register it with any State.

My boat is documented but I still need to pay property tax in Los Angeles on it. My issue is that for the last two years the assessor has sent me not only my property tax bill but one for a 33 foot power boat that I have never seen, owned, or been on. I could not get the guy on the letter to return a call so I finally went to the assessors main number and they put him right on. He figured it was just a clerical error and it would work itself out. It didn't, and now I have a lien on me for a boat I don't own. You will have to follow through, get it in writing, log every call. It is a PITA but these guys are a joke. (not a funny one) but they don't care.

In 1989 the put a lien on me for $167 for a plane I had sold two years earlier. Jeeezzz now I am pissed again. I need to go sailing

[Kia Ora]

When you register your boat with DMV (or through AAA) there's a separate box to check, or a separate code, that indicates your boat is not in LA County (Property tax is county based, not city based). I have a ski boat I keep in Big Bear in San Bernadino county and it took me quite a while to get LA county to stop trying to tax me on that boat.

[alctel]

Originally Posted by Brewgyver

Enjoy it while you can, sooner or later you Canada (or the Province, or both) will get around to taxing your boat. Somebody has to pay for all that "free" health care...

We get taxed when we buy it - and that's it. Paying property tax on a boat seems kind of insane. What's it based on - purchase price?

Also, since you are making incorrect jabs at our healthcare:

Universal healthcare works out costing taxpayers waaaaaay less than privatized healthcare - the removal of the profit motive and an entire layer of bureaucracy (mandatory private health insurers) means that in Canada about HALF of our tax dollars per person goes towards healthcare compared to the US. And that's not including the cost of private insurance that you have to pay on top of that. And no-one goes bankrupt from medical bills here, and if you get sick, you just concentrate on getting better, not trying to get your insurance company to pay for stuff.

Every other Western country (and most of the others too) have some kind of universal, 'free' healthcare (and looks on the US system with horror), I don't get why you think it's such a big socialist plot or something. It's just cost effective and humane.

[rwidman]

Tax advice (like legal advice) that you get on a boating forum is worth exactly what you pay for it.


You could go to the taxing authority and ask for an explanation. Or you could go to a tax attorney in your city.


Here's your free tax advice from me: Different states and different counties have different tax laws and policies. In my case (in SC), my boat is kept in one county and I live in a neighboring county. I pay my boat tax to the county I live in. A friend lives in another state but keeps his boat in SC. Because he doesn't live in SC, he pays tax to the county where the boat is kept.


CA may well be different so you should take the advice above. Call or go see the folks. Ask your questions. Get your correct answer.

[Jason Flare]

We bought a boat and went into the DMV in CT. ( We had a mooring in CT.) We paid sales tax on the boat and registered it. A few weeks later we received a letter from CT saying we had not paid, and needed to pay, sales tax.

I send them paperwork showing that I'd paid. I just figured they were fishing for money.

[Bill Seal]

Originally Posted by Colin A

Many states still require registration. As said they have inspectors that check with marinas and yacht clubs to ensure that all boats docked or moored over a certain time are registered with the state. Here in CT it's only 60 days then you have to register, luckily we don't have property tax on boats here.

If I recall, my sister paid CITY tax on her car in Suffield, CT in addition to outrageous property tax.

[Stu Jackson]

I moved our boat from SF to Vancouver Island last summer. Before I left I went to the tax office (property tax) in Oakland and explained my situation to avoid the hassles later on. They said show proof you're gone. I sailed north. I went back to visit in November and brought copies of my receipts showing I'd made the trip. They were satisfied.

Look, this is NOT a "new" thing. People have been talking about this for years and years. Like it or not, it's a reality. It has NOTHING to do with documenting or registering your boat, regardless of what some of have claimed here.

Do your own homework, do what I did, and be done with it. It might take all of an hour of your time. Far less than doing this whole thread. You could do it in person if you're down in LA, or by mail Not so hard.

Good luck.