Buying a boat in Caribbean what is the tax rules to bring it to florida

[videorov]

I live here in Florida and looking to buy a Catamaran power boat in
the Caribbean and wonder what the tax rules are to bring it into Florida.
How long does it have to stay out of Florida to get around the tax?
What is the tax amount %

[hellosailor]

IIRC it has to be registered someplace else, not simply kept out of the state, in order to exempt it from sales and use tax. You won't owe any sales since there's no sale in Florida. You will owe use tax instead, something like 6-1/4? percent plus any county tax.

But you can easily get all the details from the Florida DMV and tax departments, all online and official.

If you don't have someplace else to legally register the boat and operate it out of state for whatever that time period (6? monhts?) then don't even ask, just pay the use tax and import the boat. And of course, there may be import tariffs as well.

[jeremiason]

This has come up a number of times... Here are links to previous threads that may help you:

Where to Register my sailboat?

Live aboard in Florida

Purchase tax, laws, and state stay time questions

Where to register a boat

To Reflag or Not, That is the Question

Registration and Title in US

Also here is a link to a form published by Florida regarding Purchase tax and laws: http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/forms/2011/gt800005.pdf