California Tax Question on Boat Purchase

[deluxe68]

Originally Posted by gjordan

I think Dennis G has it nailed. In the 90s I did an offshore delivery from Alameda to Oregon in a brand new boat. The new owner was not allowed on the boat after the papers were signed and my contract said I was not allowed to stop until out of Calif waters. I officially turned the boat over to the owner in Oregon. To make it legal (I think) he rented an apartment in Oregon, registered his car in Oregon and got an Oregon drivers license. It saved him about 25000 dollars in sales tax, less what his costs in Oregon were. After 6 or so months he sailed back to Calif. Of course you start paying property tax once it is in Calif, but that is way less than sales tax. Lets face it, this is a legal scam that the wealthy can pull off to avoid taxes. The little guys like most of us would not benefit much at all from this sort of thing. I sometimes wonder how many pot holes there are on Calif highways because I helped cheat the state out of 25000 dollars. On the other hand, I bought 2 documented boats out of state and because I didnt bring them into the state for several years, I never paid sales tax. One of them I never entered Calif in and sold overseas. The other I had trucked home 3 years after I bought it and started paying property tax after it entered Calif. Most tax laws are written for the rich and only benefit the rich. Enough of my rant._____Grant.

In Contra Costa county I had to prove I paid sales tax after I had the boat for 1 year. Otherwise they (cannot remember if it was county or state) wanted Use Tax which was about the same as sales tax.

[hellosailor]

"and he said, even after living their for two years that he couldn't help me because i wasn't a resident of NV!!!!!! what????? "
That's the great thing about the internet. Everyone has an opinion, and they usually manage to post it wihtout any mention of facts. Like residency laws, which are usually published and fairly simple to understand. And cite.
Or tax laws, which also are published, and so easy to find online these days as well.