Buying a boat outside the US and bringing it home

[Cheechako]

Not sure why the French boat was so high, I investigated importing one from Canada and the import duty was very low.. like 1%-1.5% or something like that. That's federal. State taxes apply depending on the state you're registering in. EPA engine concerns were nil as the engine manufacture date was grandfathered.
Things change all the time though... ask the feds.

[Gedoyon]

Sorry. Meant 1.0% it 10%

[Gedoyon]

I meant "not"😊

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by Gedoyon

I just did it. Bought a French boat. Someone has already talked about import duty. It's about 10% of the purchase price.

US duty rate is closer to 1.5% than 10%. You may be looking at the sume of (federal) duty and (state) sales/use tax. The latter also applies to boats made in the US.

Originally Posted by denverd0n

If the boat has never been imported to the United States before, then you have to pay import duty. This is only due once during the life of the boat. So if it was originally manufactured on the U.S., or if a previous owner imported it to the U.S. and then moved it back out, you won't have to pay it.

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by StevenP

Please pardon the naive question! In this case, is import duty the same as VAT?

If I were to buy a VAT not paid boat from Europe, would the previously mentioned 1.5% tax be it?

Thanks.

European VAT status is irrelevant in the US.

[dlymn]

Originally Posted by svlamorocha

European VAT status is irrelevant in the US.

That's right. VAT (22+%) only applies to EU residents. If you buy a VAT paid (or in fact any boat ) in the EU, you have 18 months to get it out of the EU before they claim that the boat is a EU boat and VAT should be paid. you can renew this by going to a non EU country for a while. In reality, there are non EU boats that have been cruising the Med for years. Schengen is a different matter and means you personally can only stay in the EU for 3 months in every six months

[Crew of Turning]

SO, come to Canada and enjoy your currency exchange advantage,buy an American built ship and import it home. Nafta rules still apply, pay your state taxes and be happy.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by dlymn

If it's from Europe, read up about 110v vs 220v and metric threads and chandlery

Yes. Emphasis on electrics. In fact, if it's from almost anywhere else and not originally intended for the 110V/240V US (or North American) market...

-Chris

[AiniA]

There should not be any duty on a US or Canadian built (or a Mexican built if there are such things) boat coming from Canada because of NAFTA.

[mako]

Am curious how and why you would go about paying import duties. You can document your vessel with USCG via mail, then just sail your boat into the USA. So where does writing the check come into play?

[svlamorocha]

Originally Posted by makobuilders

Am curious how and why you would go about paying import duties. You can document your vessel with USCG via mail, then just sail your boat into the USA. So where does writing the check come into play?

Nothing to do with USCG.

When you arrive into US with the boat you need to tell CBP that you want to do "formal import".

If you do not say that (assumming you have already documented the bóat) they will most likely not realize that you have to do formal import and pay duty, because you are bringing the boat back into US. Another story is that if they catch you later you cannot blame the officer that let you in.

[RickG]

We bought our US built Beneteau in the BVIs and imported to the USVIs. No duty or other taxes were due for Federal. We had to have an original bill of sale and a copy of the then current Swedish registration to show chain of ownership. We subsequently applied for and received USCG registration. The boat having been manufactured in the US simplified things.

Cheers, RickG

[leftbrainstuff]

Most marinas check or are asked to check by the local government authority which boats are owned by us citizens. This is to levy state and city taxes.

If you're trying to avoid import tax then the government will likely consider you a tax evader. VAT in Europe is generally levied against the owner. Import dury in the US and Oz is, afaik, levied once against the vessel.

[Mirror16]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

Most marinas check or are asked to check by the local government authority which boats are owned by us citizens. This is to levy state and city taxes.

If you're trying to avoid import tax then the government will likely consider you a tax evader. VAT in Europe is generally levied against the owner. Import dury in the US and Oz is, afaik, levied once against the vessel.

A liability for state and local taxes have nothing to do with nationality - only location and duration of residence and details of property.