Help me pick State of Registration

[kadiddle]

Greetings cruisers,
If I were to buy a boat in one state, for example Georgia, from a private seller, my understanding is that there won't be sales tax on this transaction.
Then I plan to move the boat out of GA and up the east coast. I'll need to register the boat somewhere and want to avoid as much taxes as possible. The boat won't stay in any one place all year, it will move around a lot. Some time will be spent in the Chesapeake, then further up the east coast for the summer. Then down to the Bahamas or Caribbean for the winter with some time in Florida occasionally. Can I register in Delaware even if I don't spend much, if any time there? How about Rhode Island or Virginia? I understand that I'll pay a small use tax in VA but I won't be there on Jan 1 so I think this will avoid local property tax.
I really would appreciate some advice on this, I've done some searching but it gets confusing. If someone would be willing to speak to me in private about this just pm me.

[jefjo]

Look into Rhode Island for registration.

The Rhode Island Advantage: No Sales Tax on Boats - Providence Boat Show

https://www.signs.com/blog/state-gui...-requirements/

[djlocker]

If the boat is Documented with the Coast Guard, you won't need to register** it in any state so long as you don't meet their registration requirements (usually when the boat is in the state's waters for 60 to 120 days per year, though it varies by state and it may be as low as 30 days in some states).



** So far as I know. Every state registration web site I've read only requires registration for boats that are not documented and stay in the state for a certan period of time.




Oh, and otherwise, yah to Rhode Island.

[sailorboy1]

It all really depends on how long you will be somewhere. Even if you register in one state if you stay too long in a different one you I’ll need to register in that one.

I registered my boat in Florida as it seems I spend the most time there.

The other thing is that if you can’t afford to spend $100 to register your boat then ..........

[markpierce]

If one spends four months each in three states requiring registration, does one carry three sets of registration numbers on the hull or must one constantly be removing numbers even if the registrations are still current?

[kenbo]

You may want to review the sales and USE tax regs of the state where you actually live. It seems to me that registration is small potatoes compared to the USE tax requirements that you may be afoul of.

[fryewe]

Originally Posted by djlocker

If the boat is Documented with the Coast Guard, you won't need to register** it in any state so long as you don't meet their registration requirements (usually when the boat is in the state's waters for 60 to 120 days per year, though it varies by state and it may be as low as 30 days in some states).

** So far as I know. Every state registration web site I've read only requires registration for boats that are not documented and stay in the state for a certan period of time.

Oh, and otherwise, yah to Rhode Island.

State registration is required for USCG documented boats. Not required to display state registration numbers, and none will be assigned, but display of the yearly registration decal is required.

[anchorbend]

Each State has its own rules as concerns registration. Some require numbers others a sticker, some both. The registration is not the same as a title. A documented boat can not be titled boat per U.S. regs.. Be careful what state you use as a home port in your documentation, since some states will track down a boat for taxes if listed on the Coast Guard registry.

[djlocker]

Originally Posted by fryewe

State registration is required for USCG documented boats. Not required to display state registration numbers, and none will be assigned, but display of the yearly registration decal is required.

There's nothing on the Coast Guard's Vessel Documentation site, or on their FAQ at least saying this.



State registration *can* be used to establish ownership (see HOW VESSEL OWNERSHIP ESTABLISHED? in faq) but isn't required.


Skimming through the actual regulations also does not mention any state registration requirement, but also mentions it as one possible method for establishing ownership.



You still have to abide by state registration requirements (as noted above by myself and others), which, for most people in the states *will* be required but only by one or more states and not the Coast Guard.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by fryewe

State registration is required for USCG documented boats. Not required to display state registration numbers, and none will be assigned, but display of the yearly registration decal is required.

In my experience maybe yes, maybe no. My sailboat is federally documented with a hailing port of Sausalito, California. I purchased it in California and paid CA state sales tax. Since the boat was documented, California did not require me to register the boat.

However, with the boat docked full-time in California, I did pay an annual property tax on the boat, at about the same rate as property tax on a house (1% if memory serves -- not a trivial amount).

The boat and I now live in Washington State, and here, documented or not, we have to register the boat. We don't have to display the registration numbers, but are supposed to display the sticker. Fortunately, the annual registration fee is much less than the CA state property tax had been.

Neither Washington or California seem to care where the documented home port is. Neither does the federal gov't, as long as it's some city in the USA that has a post office. What matters is where the boat actually resides.

I realize that this doesn't answer much of your original question...

[neworleansrich]

The state registration thing is an ever changing landscape. If you are in Florida for any time, it is not uncommon for some local boating authority to want to see state registration for the boat and any tenders. USCG only seems to be a big red flag for them.

Louisiana used to be very loose, now they really want to have you get LA numbers for USCG registered vessels. You don't need to put the numbers on the bow, but they want to know tax was paid. No sales tax yet on private sales as long as the boat had state numbers from somewhere else (evidence that state tax was paid). My friend bought a 12ft Carolina Skiff from TX that was never registered. There was absolutely no way to get LA numbers on it since there was no evidence that the initial sales tax was paid. There was a "work around" but I hesitate to mention it here.

If RI or somewhere else allows you to get state numbers, I would do it now before the gate closes on you. It can only help you when you sell. Even Florida allows registration at reasonable rates, if the boat remains out of state for a period of time.

For those really problem cases like my friend, there are states that are much more forgiving. I hesitate to name them here. PM me if you have an issue.

[sailcrazy]

Or...if you do't intend to base the boat in the US, USCG documentation is all you will need. We lived and sailed in the Philippines, then Thailand, then the Medd, and now in the Caribbean. We DID get USCG documentation when we bought the boat in 1999, havw kept it current, and that single piece of paper is all any country we've checked into- or out of- has ever wanted to see! ..... But they did want to see it, and often made/took a copy of it and our insurance policy. By the way, we've left our boat in Puerto Rico (US territory) the last 4 "summer seasons" with only that same paperwork.

[guyrj33]

i'm pretty sure USCG documented vessels are NOT allowed to show state registration numbers.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by kadiddle

Greetings cruisers,
If I were to buy a boat in one state, for example Georgia, from a private seller, my understanding is that there won't be sales tax on this transaction.
Then I plan to move the boat out of GA and up the east coast. I'll need to register the boat somewhere and want to avoid as much taxes as possible. The boat won't stay in any one place all year, it will move around a lot. Some time will be spent in the Chesapeake, then further up the east coast for the summer. Then down to the Bahamas or Caribbean for the winter with some time in Florida occasionally. Can I register in Delaware even if I don't spend much, if any time there? How about Rhode Island or Virginia? I understand that I'll pay a small use tax in VA but I won't be there on Jan 1 so I think this will avoid local property tax.
I really would appreciate some advice on this, I've done some searching but it gets confusing. If someone would be willing to speak to me in private about this just pm me.

A state you have an address in.

[jmschmidt]

State registration of a USCG Documented Vessel is not required in Hawaii and many other states. States with personal property tax on boats usually require state registration even for documented vessels.