Sales Tax

[zupa]

I'm in the process of buying a catamaran and I had a question about sales Tax
I live in Fort Lauderdale and I'm buying a catamaran that is registered on Delaware and I was told by my broker that I had to pay sales tax even if I register the boat in Delaware.
My question is.
1)Why do I have to pay sales tax if I'm registering the boat in Delaware?
2)How can I avoid paying sales tax (legally) when purchasing the boat?
3)Do you have someone that you can recommend to help me with this process or give me some advise since my loan broker wants me to pay sales tax?

Thanks in advance!!

[rbk]

Not sure if it will work in your area but generally if you include a condition in the sale for delivery to a specified location (paid for and included in sales price). The seller pays for a delivery captain to deliver the boat out of state where the new owner takes possession. Or if the seller is willing to do it him/herself. Should state that the vessel is required to arrive in same condition as inspected on xxxx date, and if using a delivery captain he/she is to be insured for xxxx dollars with seller and/or purchaser listed as additional insured. You as the purchaser cannot (should not, even if they ask or insist) accompany either the owner or delivery captain on the passage.

[Paul L]

If you are an Fla resident and purchase a boat that is located in Fla you owe the sales tax on the transaction. If the boat is located in some other state and you don't bring it back to Fla then you may owe the other state's sales tax, but not one to Fla.

[denverd0n]

Paul L got it right. Where the boat is registered has nothing to do with sales tax. What's more, if you keep the boat in Florida for more than 90 days then you must register it in Florida. So, unless you are planning to move to Delaware, and take the boat with you, Delaware has nothing to do with it.


Here are links to the official State of Florida documents about vessel taxes and registration:


http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/current/gt800005.pdf
https://www.flhsmv.gov/motor-vehicle...registrations/

[rbk]

Boy you guys have it good. Places in Canada will collect sales tax if the sale takes places in the specified area, even if you leave and never come back and are a non-resident they get their cut.

[zupa]

Thanks for the response ! so let me see if I got it right.

The boat is in the US but outside Florida. I purchase the boat outside Florida I don't have to pay sales tax. I will be registering the boat in Delaware (no sales tax to register the boat there). Also, I will not be spending more than 90 days in Florida so I would not need to register the boat in Florida (no sales tax needed to be paid). The plan is to travel around the Caribbean.

Correct?

[Paul L]

You can't bring the boat back to Fla for at least 6 months. Check the linked doc that DenverdOn posted. Its pretty clear.
Also, the state you make the purchase in may or maynot require sales tax, usually depending on how long the boat stays in the state. Each state has different rules. Whete you register the boat is not very relavent.

[Captain Bill]

The problem is that the OP is a Florida resident. The 6 month exclusion does not apply to Florida residents. Even if he keeps the boat out of Florida he either has to pay sales tax where he bought it or Use tax in Florida. The Florida Department of Revenue wants its money. If you buy a boat in Florida and are not a state resident and you get it out of Florida within 90 days and do not bring it back to Florida for six months you don't owe Florida sales or use tax. Also the six months does not count if the boat is out of the US.

[Woodland Hills]

The only way to avoid Florida sales/use tax is if you are buying a boat that is an asset of an LLC. Then you buy the LLC instead of the boat and the boat ownership does not change. You can try to get cute and evade the tax but in the end they will catch up to you....... and why not: Florida is getting quite good at this and have had a lot of time to work out procedures to find and collect.

[hellosailor]

As Capt. Bill said.

Maybe ten years ago a forum member from NY brought his boat home to NY, something like 20 years after he bought it, for the first time. NYS didn't care about the twenty years, they just said he was a resident, the boat had entered the state, and now twenty years worth of taxes, penalties, and interest were due.

AFAIK that's the norm.

I don't know what a "loan broker" is, unless the OP is shopping around for boat loans? And just giving friendly advice that they think applies.

[FLLCatsailor]

As a Florida resident buying a boat in the state of Florida you are required to not only pay the sales tax, but also register the boat in the state of Florida.

There might be a work around if you aren't planning on keeping the boat in Florida, but based on your original post I don't have enough information.

Shoot me a PM with more details, and I see if I can offer any guidance.

[meridian28]

I’m a Florida resident, bought my boat in Georgia and registered it there. No tax on used boats in GA. 7 months later I brought it to FL and registered it here. No sales or use tax was collected.

[sck5]

Captain Bill and Hellosailor have it exactly right. I did exactly what they said a few years ago. NY resident, bought a boat in Florida and had 90 days to get to Georgia where I spent 6 months refitting before heading back south and eventually to the Bahamas. FLorida wanted proof that I had indeed gotten the boat out of FL (dockage reciepts from Georgia did the trick. Federally documented the boat and never registered it in any state at all. Florida is picky but if you follow their rules they are reasonable. Any competent broker in FLorida should know all about these rules.

[Zzmeyer]

I always go to this forum for tax advice. All but one is right. Guess which one?

[smj]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

As a Florida resident buying a boat in the state of Florida you are required to not only pay the sales tax, but also register the boat in the state of Florida.



There might be a work around if you aren't planning on keeping the boat in Florida, but based on your original post I don't have enough information.



Shoot me a PM with more details, and I see if I can offer any guidance.

The boats not in Florida