Florida registration for federally documented boats

[Deferiet]

We are looking into cruising the Bahamas in the winter and keeping our boat in Florida the summer months. Do we need to register our boat in Florida, and or pay users tax. Can anyone explain the rules to me.

[ShaktiGurl]

You can officially keep it in Florida for 90 days, then leave (maybe take it to the Bahamas again for a couple weeks). From the Florida DMV:

I will be vacationing in Florida this summer. Do I need to register my vessel there?

Florida recognizes valid registration certificates and numbers issued to visiting boaters for a period of 90 days. An owner who intends to use his vessel in Florida longer than 90 days must register it with a county tax collector. However, he may retain the out-of-state registration number if he plans to return to his home state within a reasonable period of time.

Official Website Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

[Deferiet]

Thanks for your assistance, perhaps you might know the answer to this. We bought the boat new in VA ( no tax charged when Fed documented). Our boat is 8 years old, do you know how tax is calculated. Everything I read says $18,000, YIKES!!!

[ShaktiGurl]

Originally Posted by Deferiet

Thanks for your assistance, perhaps you might know the answer to this. We bought the boat new in VA ( no tax charged when Fed documented). Our boat is 8 years old, do you know how tax is calculated. Everything I read says $18,000, YIKES!!!

Here it gets tricky. Since you have owned it 8 years, you may be ok and only need to register it and not pay sales tax. We purchased ours in December in GA and moved it to FL right away. I think if we had we gone to the Bahamas for 6 months, we could have avoided the sales tax but that was not an option. So, for us, it was 6% of the purchase price to the max of $18k. Yikes indeed! But FL has no income tax so this is where they get you.

Maybe a FL broker can help out here...

Update: here is a website that says you don't have to pay the use/sales tax if you meet the criteria but then it says below if it stays more than 90 consecutive days, you do! http://www.boattax.com/ma-florida%202010%20cap-htm/

which makes it about as clear as anything run by the govt. in FL...

[Deferiet]

Thanks, I will keep you posted on how we make out.

[kentobin]

I remember a few years ago reading a related tax blog about a boat registered in California. When the boater left California he had a hard time getting the government to take him off the tax roles. It was probably the county government as that's who I pay my taxes to. The bureaucrats also kept coming after him for back boat taxes he was able to show he didn't owe.

Sorry I'm to lazy to look for the blog.

Any similar issues with Florida?

[Captain Bill]

I don't think the Boattax web site is correct. We moved to Florida from NC in 2011 and registered our boat there. We purchased the boat used from the PO and in NC there is no sales/use tax on the purchase of a used boat from an individual, so we had paid no sales/use tax on it. We purchased the boat in 2005 and used it for almost 6 years in NC. When we registered the boat we did not have to pay Sales/use tax in Florida. Our boat is documented so we did not get Fl numbers but we do have to put a sticker on the window. I don't understand the 90 consecutive day statement with regards to tax. We were told if you have the boat in Fl more than 90 consecutive days or more than 183 days per year you had to register it in Florida, not pay tax if you otherwise met the exemption criteria.

[nautical62]

Originally Posted by ShaktiGurl

You can officially keep it in Florida for 90 days, then leave (maybe take it to the Bahamas again for a couple weeks). From the Florida DMV:

I will be vacationing in Florida this summer. Do I need to register my vessel there?

Florida recognizes valid registration certificates and numbers issued to visiting boaters for a period of 90 days. An owner who intends to use his vessel in Florida longer than 90 days must register it with a county tax collector. However, he may retain the out-of-state registration number if he plans to return to his home state within a reasonable period of time.

Official Website Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

I've read that one may store a boat on the hard, and that such storage may not be considered "using it", and therefore not subject to the 90 day using it in Florida rule. Verify however. I can't say for sure that's the case.

I have certainly seen many boats on the hard that are not Florida registered.

If it doesn't matter to you whether the boat is in our out of the water, this is something to look into.

[denverd0n]

Here is the information that you need, direct from the state agencies...
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2011/gt800005.pdf
Official Website Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

It's really pretty simple in your case. You have owned and used your boat within the United States for more than 6 months now. You will not owe any sales/use tax to the state of Florida.

If you keep the boat in Florida for more than 90 days then you will have to register it. The annual fee for registration will be less than $200. If the boat is federally documented, then you do not need to display Florida registration numbers.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by ShaktiGurl

We purchased ours in December in GA and moved it to FL right away. I think if we had we gone to the Bahamas for 6 months, we could have avoided the sales tax...

No, you couldn't have. The boat has to be owned and used within the United States for more than 6 months in order to avoid the Florida tax. Taking it to the Bahamas would not make any difference.

Originally Posted by ShaktiGurl

Update: here is a website that says you don't have to pay the use/sales tax if you meet the criteria but then it says below if it stays more than 90 consecutive days, you do!

The confusion here probably comes from the fact that if you buy a boat in Florida, but move it out of the state within 90 days, then you do not have to pay sales/use tax to Florida. That's the only "90 day" provision that I am aware of related to sales tax on a vessel in the state of Florida.

[ShaktiGurl]

Ah good info! Registration should be easy then and is fairly cheap.

They got us good with sales tax and use tax on vehicles we brought with us so I was confused.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by nautical62

I've read that one may store a boat on the hard, and that such storage may not be considered "using it", and therefore not subject to the 90 day using it in Florida rule. Verify however. I can't say for sure that's the case.

I have certainly seen many boats on the hard that are not Florida registered.

If it doesn't matter to you whether the boat is in our out of the water, this is something to look into.

I believe that is the case. I know I've stored on the hard in FL more than once with no issues. Who knows though with an overzealous assessor or something...
The 90 day issue (on the water) seems a little soft also.... how do they know when you arrived?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Here is the information that you need, direct from the state agencies...
http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2011/gt800005.pdf
Official Website Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

It's really pretty simple in your case. You have owned and used your boat within the United States for more than 6 months now. You will not owe any sales/use tax to the state of Florida.

If you keep the boat in Florida for more than 90 days then you will have to register it. The annual fee for registration will be less than $200. If the boat is federally documented, then you do not need to display Florida registration numbers.

Right on. The reply with the correct and complete answer!

I am a dual resident of FL and various places in New England. Researched this subject very carefully before buying my boat, including reading all the FL websites and a few calls to Tallahassee to speak directly with the head of sales tax and boat registration departments (be careful asking the local county tax offices, they don't always give the correct answers). Everything I learned agrees with Don 100%.

[ShaktiGurl]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I believe that is the case. I know I've stored on the hard in FL more than once with no issues. Who knows though with an overzealous assessor or something...
The 90 day issue (on the water) seems a little soft also.... how do they know when you arrived?

They don't really. We sat on our mooring well past our 90 days with the police using our boat as a hiding spot for catching speeders. Spoke to him on and off. Never asked about registration, only about not dumping and keeping the anchor light on when aboard. It doesn't seem something that is enforced strongly (in our area).

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by ShaktiGurl

They don't really. We sat on our mooring well past our 90 days with the police using our boat as a hiding spot for catching speeders. Spoke to him on and off. Never asked about registration, only about not dumping and keeping the anchor light on when aboard. It doesn't seem something that is enforced strongly (in our area).

Enforcement is certainly spotty. I have friends who reported officials coming through a marina making a list of all the boats. On the other hand, I was moored in the St Johns River for several months and, like you, the only thing raised by the local authorities was anchor lights.