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05-12-2015, 06:08
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 3
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CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Does anyone know the specifics for Use Tax for non-residents cruising through CA or Vancouver, BC?
We are looking to take our USCG documented boat (RI documentation) to the pacific NW, and want to spend one winter in the NW, possibly CA, in between our Alaska and Desolation sound adventures in back-to-back summer seasons.
My research found that WA state allows you to stay up to 6 months within a 12 month period before charging a Use tax, but I'm struggling to find out any info for CA?
Additionally, does anyone know if there are any tax requirements for transient dockage in the Vancouver,BC area for 5-6 months?
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05-12-2015, 19:20
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Niagara Falls
Boat: Westsail 32
Posts: 629
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Welcome to Cruisers Forum, djk the 1216th. 8-)
Is your CA California or Canada?
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05-12-2015, 20:24
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
Boat: Prior boats: Transpac 49; DeFever 54
Posts: 2,874
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
I had no idea that Vancouver, BC had a 'use tax'! Is this something new? If you that is true, thank God I left in the 80's... Phil
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05-12-2015, 20:38
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 25
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Quote:
Originally Posted by djk1216
Does anyone know the specifics for Use Tax for non-residents cruising through CA or Vancouver, BC?
We are looking to take our USCG documented boat (RI documentation) to the pacific NW, and want to spend one winter in the NW, possibly CA, in between our Alaska and Desolation sound adventures in back-to-back summer seasons.
My research found that WA state allows you to stay up to 6 months within a 12 month period before charging a Use tax, but I'm struggling to find out any info for CA?
Additionally, does anyone know if there are any tax requirements for transient dockage in the Vancouver,BC area for 5-6 months?
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Ok hold on,, A use tax?? Better not be one, We have enough with GST( goug and steal) Pst(please take more) But user taxes?? no way, That would be time to give up been canadian, So just as you know there is no user tax in canada, We pay enough already, Well the people thing this but the new Gov guy might have other ideas,
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05-12-2015, 20:38
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#5
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Oregon to Alaska
Boat: Wheeler Shipyard 83' ex USCG
Posts: 3,499
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
In California according to their laws, vessels documented or registered in another state that are primarily used outside California don't need to be registered. When in California I don't do anything with the state, but don't stay for any length of time. I don't stay in yacht harbors.
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06-12-2015, 03:13
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#6
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,139
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, djk.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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06-12-2015, 05:58
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 3
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Thanks everyone, and glad to hear BC only has the PST. After everything I read about Use taxes in the US, I thought it was worth asking the question.
Another question, as a non-Canadianian resident visiting the country, are there any restrictions on how long I can stay before the PST would kick-in? Just looking to spend a winter there in between the PW seasons.
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03-01-2016, 10:26
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 1
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
PST is Provincial Sales Tax and is applied to purchases, be it goods or services. There is also a Goods and Services Tax (GST) which applies as well. Not sure how much they are total but probably around 13 percent. BC may be a province one of the provinces that has combined the 2 taxes into whats called the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) but not sure. Bottomline at the bottom is this applies to everyone at all times for purchases of goods and services (there are some exceptions) and so visit lengths does not come into play. Think of it as the state sales tax. Cheers!
Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum
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03-01-2016, 11:37
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
Boat: Prior boats: Transpac 49; DeFever 54
Posts: 2,874
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt K
PST is Provincial Sales Tax and is applied to purchases, be it goods or services. There is also a Goods and Services Tax (GST) which applies as well. Not sure how much they are total but probably around 13 percent. BC may be a province one of the provinces that has combined the 2 taxes into whats called the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) but not sure. Bottomline at the bottom is this applies to everyone at all times for purchases of goods and services (there are some exceptions) and so visit lengths does not come into play. Think of it as the state sales tax. Cheers!
Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum
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Thanks, Capt K... I had wondered how the 'Harmonized' Tax was arrived at. Left BC in the early 80's so have missed much of the drama up there! Cheers, Phil
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03-01-2016, 11:46
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
Boat: Prior boats: Transpac 49; DeFever 54
Posts: 2,874
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lepke
In California according to their laws, vessels documented or registered in another state that are primarily used outside California don't need to be registered. When in California I don't do anything with the state, but don't stay for any length of time. I don't stay in yacht harbors.
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One of the main reasons I left CA was the treatment I rec'd from the taxing authorities in Sacramento. I purchased a boat in WA state, cruised it in Canadian waters for nearly 6 months, sailed to CA, sold the boat around 5 years later and 2 years after I had sold the vessel, the CA Franchise Tax Board came after me for sales tax plus penalties! It necessitated a trip back to Canada to visit all the marinas and gas docks I had visited to try and collect receipts for berthage and gas while out of country from 7 years previously!
I left the state never to return and to this day will not purchase anything from CA or even eat a meal there, let alone visit! Phil
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03-01-2016, 12:30
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#11
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: La Paz, Mexico
Boat: 1978 Hudson Force 50 Ketch
Posts: 3,920
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
If your Boat is found to be in a California Marina when they do their "Property Tax Assessment" you will get a Tax bill....US Doc Vessel Or not.
People confuse the two types of Taxes that California charges on Boats:
1. The Sales Tax
2. Personal Property Tax
Re No 1.
If you didn't buy your boat in California and are not a California resident you are clean...you will owe no sales Tax. (but you may still be asked to prove it if No 2 below happens to you)
However, if you purchased a boat within the last year, and bring it into the State...Bingo...get ready to pay the Sales Tax my friend, residency doesn't matter if they snag you in the No 2 trap below.
Re No 2.
The Personal Property Tax (sometimes called Use Tax) is assessed on ALL boats kept in the State of California. Doesn't matter where your residency is...if it is in California they will want money. This is a County Tax, not a State Tax. So once a year the County Tax Assessors Office either gets a list from the Marina on which boats are in the Marina or they walk the docks with a clipboard. In Morro Bay, where I am, they get the "Occupied Mooring" on Dec 31st list. This is usually done once per year and if your boat gets tagged on this list...it is "Assumed" your boat is kept in California all year long and the County will send a Tax bill to the Registered address/owner. Some Counties are more Aggressive than others, some view it as easy money, some don't want to mess with it.
How do you avoid getting on this "**** list" and being asked for taxes...well you either find out when they do their "who is in a slip or on a mooring count" and not be there OR stay out of California.
Once you get on the list it will be YOUR Responsibility to prove to the County Tax Assessor that you were a Yacht in Transit and not a resident of that County but simply passing through, if you just ignore the love letter, the more aggressive County Tax Assessors CAN put a lien on your BOAT! Some Counties are easy...call or a letter, while others will come after you like you are trying to steal candy from a starving baby (IE the California Tax Payers).
It's also why advice and stores of what I did...or a buddy did...or I heard from a friend of a friend on Cruisers Forum can vary Wildly from person to person because each County Tax Assessor goes about it more or less aggressively. The San Luis Obispo County Assessor where I am in Morro Bay...heck they are like talking to your best friend they are so easy to deal with. But other County Assessors could be like trying to ditch out of a debt with the Mafia.
Like many Californians, I have a love hate relationship with the State.
If it wasn't for the Weather here, I'd already be gone.
Earners and people pulling the cart are taxed through the nose and told we are the problem, while those riding in the cart (or even too poor to have a cart to ride in or not even legal citizens of the Country) are treated as royalty with handouts galore. Welcome to a leftist Utopia, where the last taxpayer left will turn off the lights when they leave and the free money/handout dream will come crashing down.
__________________
Rich Boren
Cruise RO & Schenker Water Makers
Technautics CoolBlue Refrigeration
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03-01-2016, 14:33
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
Boat: Prior boats: Transpac 49; DeFever 54
Posts: 2,874
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Quote:
Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY
If your Boat is found to be in a California Marina when they do their "Property Tax Assessment" you will get a Tax bill....US Doc Vessel Or not.
People confuse the two types of Taxes that California charges on Boats:
1. The Sales Tax
2. Personal Property Tax
Re No 1.
If you didn't buy your boat in California and are not a California resident you are clean...you will owe no sales Tax. (but you may still be asked to prove it if No 2 below happens to you)
However, if you purchased a boat within the last year, and bring it into the State...Bingo...get ready to pay the Sales Tax my friend, residency doesn't matter if they snag you in the No 2 trap below.
Re No 2.
The Personal Property Tax (sometimes called Use Tax) is assessed on ALL boats kept in the State of California. Doesn't matter where your residency is...if it is in California they will want money. This is a County Tax, not a State Tax. So once a year the County Tax Assessors Office either gets a list from the Marina on which boats are in the Marina or they walk the docks with a clipboard. In Morro Bay, where I am, they get the "Occupied Mooring" on Dec 31st list. This is usually done once per year and if your boat gets tagged on this list...it is "Assumed" your boat is kept in California all year long and the County will send a Tax bill to the Registered address/owner. Some Counties are more Aggressive than others, some view it as easy money, some don't want to mess with it.
How do you avoid getting on this "**** list" and being asked for taxes...well you either find out when they do their "who is in a slip or on a mooring count" and not be there OR stay out of California.
Once you get on the list it will be YOUR Responsibility to prove to the County Tax Assessor that you were a Yacht in Transit and not a resident of that County but simply passing through, if you just ignore the love letter, the more aggressive County Tax Assessors CAN put a lien on your BOAT! Some Counties are easy...call or a letter, while others will come after you like you are trying to steal candy from a starving baby (IE the California Tax Payers).
It's also why advice and stores of what I did...or a buddy did...or I heard from a friend of a friend on Cruisers Forum can vary Wildly from person to person because each County Tax Assessor goes about it more or less aggressively. The San Luis Obispo County Assessor where I am in Morro Bay...heck they are like talking to your best friend they are so easy to deal with. But other County Assessors could be like trying to ditch out of a debt with the Mafia.
Like many Californians, I have a love hate relationship with the State.
If it wasn't for the Weather here, I'd already be gone.
Earners and people pulling the cart are taxed through the nose and told we are the problem, while those riding in the cart (or even too poor to have a cart to ride in or not even legal citizens of the Country) are treated as royalty with handouts galore. Welcome to a leftist Utopia, where the last taxpayer left will turn off the lights when they leave and the free money/handout dream will come crashing down.
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Thanks for that, Third Day... I certainly had no problem with paying a use tax (#2 above) but really felt that I was being screwed under #1. I purposely did not buy a boat in CA and was careful to keep it out of CA waters for at last 6 months after I purchased it in WA state. Even took it out of country so that I could document its location if need be through entry and exit paperwork. That was of no interest whatsoever to the Franchise Tax Board who consider you guilty until you prove your innocence. Hence the expense of traveling back to Canada and around the area where we had previously cruised years before. I'm not certain of the laws in CA currently but at the time we lived abroad, I was in the delivery business and was thoroughly conversant with the laws regarding sales tax, offshore deliveries and how to legally avoid sales tax.
Suffice to say, whether or not you like the weather, there are about 30+ other states I would live in rather than CA given a choice which I have and exercised.
Phil
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03-01-2016, 14:40
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#13
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: La Paz, Mexico
Boat: 1978 Hudson Force 50 Ketch
Posts: 3,920
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt Phil
Suffice to say, whether or not you like the weather, there are about 30+ other states I would live in rather than CA given a choice which I have and exercised.
Phil
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I'm with you Amigo...I'm outta here soon myself and taking the 9 Jobs I created here with me.
__________________
Rich Boren
Cruise RO & Schenker Water Makers
Technautics CoolBlue Refrigeration
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03-01-2016, 15:00
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#14
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Victoria B.C.
Boat: Wauquiez Centurion 32
Posts: 2,874
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt Phil
Thanks, Capt K... I had wondered how the 'Harmonized' Tax was arrived at. Left BC in the early 80's so have missed much of the drama up there! Cheers, Phil
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British Columbia does not have Harmonized tax. WE have 7% Provincial sales tax and 5% Federal GST. These would only apply if you imported the boat to Canada - the total of 12% would be due on importation.
We do not have a use tax in Canada. Once you buy a boat and pay the sales tax there are no other taxes due ever. If you sell the new owner pays the sales tax.
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03-01-2016, 18:12
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
Boat: Prior boats: Transpac 49; DeFever 54
Posts: 2,874
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Re: CA & Vancouver Use Tax for non-residents
Good on ya, Third Day... good luck wherever you land. Nevada did it for me. North Sails are just down the road and doing a booming business, I understand... Cheers, Phil
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