Buying a US registered boat in Mexico

[olivioloyer]

Hi everyone,

We are on the verge of buying a 2000 Catalina 36" in Mexico and I have some question related to Taxes, Ownership and Registration.

I am a French Citizen, my Partner in life & @sea is a Mexican citizen and the boat is US registered.

We have been told by some brokers, that you cannot keep the boat under a US flag if you are not a US citizen, is it correct?

If you want to register the boat in Mexico, do you have to pay sales tax(16%) on the purchase in Mexico?, because that would be a big deal.

Another option is to register the boat under a French flag, but I don't know what would be the implications regarding French Taxes, or if there is anything I should know about that.

So I guess my question is, what is the best option?

Thanks a lot

FairWind&FollowingSeas

[billknny]

Originally Posted by olivioloyer

We have been told by some brokers, that you cannot keep the boat under a US flag if you are not a US citizen, is it correct?

I have to pass on your other questions, on French and Mexican registrations, but I can confirm for you that you must be a US citizen to document a boat with the USCG. There are a few very legalistic ways around this requiring forming a corporation with US citizens as majority shareholders, but I very much doubt that would be of use to you.

The USA has two separate ways of registering a boat, one "documented" with the USCG, the other is to register it with one of the 50 states. Registration in states is POSSIBLE to a foreign national, but really isn't the best option for a boat in international travel.

[olivioloyer]

OK, Thanks a lot for that info