Purchasing a Boat in the Sunsail Fleet

[kaiserlp2]

I have put in an offer on the boat, as the financials work out well for us (staying in the charter fleet until mid 2015)

My wife and I are curious as to things like state personal property tax

I'm assuming that since it's in Tortola, I will NOT have to pay property tax. I'd need to do that to register it to bring into my state, which I won't be doing

Does anyone have experience with this?

Also, because it's in charter, it seems that trips to it could be viewed as "business expenses".

Any thoughts on that?

Thank you in advance

Phil

[Zanshin]

I've purchased a boat out of Sunsail's fleet in Tortola. Depending upon the vessel's flag you might have to re-flag her upon purchase. Do you know what the current registration currently is and also what flag you want to register her under?

Once that is known you will be able to get qualified answers to your questions.

[S/V Illusion]

You are asking for state tax information from an internet boating site without knowing what state, how the ownership is created, whether it is a legit business and for free. This should be entertaining.

[kaiserlp2]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

You are asking for state tax information from an internet boating site without knowing what state, how the ownership is created, whether it is a legit business and for free. This should be entertaining.

Point well taken... I guess the sarcasm was well earned.

The boat is US flagged now. We'll be doing the same.

I live in Missouri.

My wife has her own LLC: she caters. It would be pretty simple to use her tax ID, or to create a new LLC

I was kind of wondering if someone on the site may have done something similar. I don't plan to use the answers as proven fact, but to let me know where I may need to check with professionals.

I've been reading this site for years. I've noticed there is a wealth of information out there.

Some appear to be patient and courteous in answering what may be naive or "newby" questions. Others, not so much

Thanks

Phil

[Rocketman]

Phil,
There are a lot of differant options to concider. You will probably need to consult a good tax man, and I am not one. But in many states, assuming you are a US citizen, you can register the boat where you keep it. For example when you take it out of the BVI's you could bring it to Florida and keep it here without paying property tax's on it. If it is producing some income I believe you could then possibly write off some expences when visiting or evaluating your boat/business. There may be some tax benifits to having it in the BVI's also, but I think your tax man is going to be your best resorce and how far you feel comfortable stretching facts.

[bvimatelot]

Have you talked to the TUI (Sunsail fleet owning company) about the tax position? There are any number of US citizens with US flagged boats here in the Tortola Sunsail and Moorings' fleets, and I know that Moorings (who are now combined with Sunsail in the Tui empire) have, or used to have, an extremely active Owner's Group. The guy to talk to would be Michel Bennarosh at Sailonline dot com. There are ways of doing it but as I recall, it depends on if the taxman considers it an "active" or "passive" business (I think those were the terms!). Being in an actively managed charter fleet makes it a bit difficult to assert that you are the "active" one: I think you have to do a lot of marketing and promotion yourself to make you"active".

One hint about having a boat in the fleet. Get to Know the staff at the Tortola Base - in particular, Robert, the Technical Manager!!

best of luck, Tony

[kaiserlp2]

Originally Posted by bvimatelot

Have you talked to the TUI (Sunsail fleet owning company) about the tax position? There are any number of US citizens with US flagged boats here in the Tortola Sunsail and Moorings' fleets, and I know that Moorings (who are now combined with Sunsail in the Tui empire) have, or used to have, an extremely active Owner's Group. The guy to talk to would be Michel Bennarosh at Sailonline dot com. There are ways of doing it but as I recall, it depends on if the taxman considers it an "active" or "passive" business (I think those were the terms!). Being in an actively managed charter fleet makes it a bit difficult to assert that you are the "active" one: I think you have to do a lot of marketing and promotion yourself to make you"active".

One hint about having a boat in the fleet. Get to Know the staff at the Tortola Base - in particular, Robert, the Technical Manager!!

best of luck, Tony

Fantastic input! Thank you so much.

I'll follow up on both of those!

I close in the next few weeks.... Definitely time to get included in those owners groups

Much appreciated
Phil