experience with Florida taxes after purchase

[Loon]

some states have a program that searches the US Doc. records.its public knowledge. Then they send you the tax form and now the stress is on you to prove otherwise. Just another form of govt. officials trying to intimidate the taxpayer. US govt. is now the largest employer in the USA. That needs to stop!

[Boatguy30]

Thanks for the rant! Not sure what US government employment has to do with FL sales tax. Id be happy to have state employees work a little harder and maybe make some bonuses for themselves.

[Loon]

your welcome for the rant . just dumping some baggage to start a new week.what does US govt. have to do with FL. ? one pirahna feeds the other.
if you think paying extra will get you extra well then there's some swamp land in FL.id like to sell ya.

[Sand crab]

Originally Posted by timb7734

Ok, FL did not lower rate but capped the use tax at $18,000 versus the &150K plus the tax on my last boat would have been.

The remarks regarding registrations were for states outside FL in case you missed that, personally I have never been checked for anything in FL but have been in states up north looking for tax revenue from vagabond boaters

Florida capped the tax at $18,000 but with a state sales tax of 6% only boats costing more than $300K would benefit. If your boat was $150k then you would still be taxed at the normal rate. Did you pay $9000?

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by BBill

I've been boating a long time on the east coast of Florida and been checked more than a couple times from Canaveral to Key West. Never heard or seen the USCG, marine patrol or tax assessor agent go out to check decals or paperwork for taxes. The one exception is when Florida tried to do property tax on boats for liveaboards (as homeowners) in the early 1970s. The IRS, Federal Marshals and US Customs are another story but that isn't normally for state sales tax. There are always exceptions but generally speaking no state agencies are walking docks or checking registrations for sales tax. Your out of state boat with out of state registration can sit in most marinas for yrs without an agency contacting you.

Unfortunately you are simply incorrect on this subject, as evidenced by many of us in this very thread who received a letter from the Florida Dept of Revenue asking us to either pay our tax or explain why we didn't have to as the result of short transits through FL waters in CG documented vessels. I can tell you from more than 20 years experience the CG isn't in the business of collecting state sales tax so you're right about that, and couldn't tell you for sure if the various FL marine patrols are the ones checking or not, but indisputably someone is. Either that or all of us posting our first hand experience on the matter in this thread are lying in exactly the same way for some inexplicable reason?

[BBill]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

Unfortunately you are simply incorrect on this subject, as evidenced by many of us in this very thread who received a letter from the Florida Dept of Revenue asking us to either pay our tax or explain why we didn't have to as the result of short transits through FL waters in CG documented vessels. I can tell you from more than 20 years experience the CG isn't in the business of collecting state sales tax so you're right about that, and couldn't tell you for sure if the various FL marine patrols are the ones checking or not, but indisputably someone is. Either that or all of us posting our first hand experience on the matter in this thread are lying in exactly the same way for some inexplicable reason?

Really? The state sent a tax question on a boat you privately purchased in Florida and you did not record the sale anywhere? No USCG document recording? No Florida recording? No recording in another state of the sale? How did they know where to send you a letter?

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by BBill

How did they know where to send you a letter?

See a boat in a marina. Ask the marina operator who pays the bill. Send the letter.


Easy-peasy.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by BBill

Really? The state sent a tax question on a boat you privately purchased in Florida and you did not record the sale anywhere? No USCG document recording? No Florida recording? No recording in another state of the sale? How did they know where to send you a letter?

I'd highly recommend reading the entire thread prior to commenting, it helps avoid repeating what several posters including me already provided excruciating details on. To repeat:
I bought the boat from outside Florida. Coast Guard documented vessel. Transited through Florida from Fort Lauderdale up to GA, ducking into the ICW to anchor or moor at night and primarily transiting offshore. Received a letter at my house in Maryland several months later, presumably obtained from the CG records or perhaps some other records search, politely asking me to demonstrate that I wasn't subject to sales tax or to pay said tax. When provided with fuel receipts in GA and Customs check-in in Fort Lauderdale I received a polite letter thanking me and saying the matter was closed. Several others reported very similar experiences...in this thread.

The OP, as you'll recall from reading their posts, would have been in an identical situation except they would have also purchased the boat in FL, so one additional touch point.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Loon

some states have a program that searches the US Doc. records.its public knowledge. Then they send you the tax form and now the stress is on you to prove otherwise. Just another form of govt. officials trying to intimidate the taxpayer. US govt. is now the largest employer in the USA. That needs to stop!

This is a thread about the Florida Department of Revenue attempting to collect Florida taxes. What that has to do with the size of the U.S. Federal Government or the 40 or so federal employees who work in the U.S. Coast Guard National Vessel Documentation Center is really unclear? Are you saying we should get rid of those 40 people, since they're the only nexus to the Federal workforce that is in any way connected to this? Most people report they do a pretty good job given the budgetary limitations they operate under, do you have any concrete suggestions for how we should better provide this service? Do you have any personal experience with them that leads to this apparent questioning of their very existence? If not, your comments are extremely confusing and it's not at all clear what you're trying to say?

[Woodland Hills]

One thing not considered is that bridge masters can keep track and record the name, home port and (with binoculars) the registration sticker of every vessel passing through. There is a reason they ask for vessel name.......

Also, just as the registration book in a hotel is available to LEO, so is the registration at a marina. The Patriot Act expanded the reach of any and all government agencies, you should not be surprised that the departments that earn revenue take advantage of it. If they can scan and collate hundreds of thousands of license plates, essentially every one that passes in front of every police car they can keep track of a few thousand boats.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

One thing not considered is that bridge masters can keep track and record the name, home port and (with binoculars) the registration sticker of every vessel passing through. There is a reason they ask for vessel name.......

Also, just as the registration book in a hotel is available to LEO, so is the registration at a marina. The Patriot Act expanded the reach of any and all government agencies, you should not be surprised that the departments that earn revenue take advantage of it. If they can scan and collate hundreds of thousands of license plates, essentially every one that passes in front of every police car they can keep track of a few thousand boats.

Lets make it political? Pay the tax or pay in your home state.

[BBill]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

I'd highly recommend reading the entire thread prior to commenting, it helps avoid repeating what several posters including me already provided excruciating details on. To repeat:
I bought the boat from outside Florida. Coast Guard documented vessel. Transited through Florida from Fort Lauderdale up to GA, ducking into the ICW to anchor or moor at night and primarily transiting offshore. Received a letter at my house in Maryland several months later, presumably obtained from the CG records or perhaps some other records search, politely asking me to demonstrate that I wasn't subject to sales tax or to pay said tax. When provided with fuel receipts in GA and Customs check-in in Fort Lauderdale I received a polite letter thanking me and saying the matter was closed. Several others reported very similar experiences...in this thread.

The OP, as you'll recall from reading their posts, would have been in an identical situation except they would have also purchased the boat in FL, so one additional touch point.

Maybe you need to reread and comprehend the op is buying a boat in florida and concerned about tax before he moves the boat. It had nothing to do with boat purchases outside of florida. Regardless, the chance of an out of state boat passing though for a couple of weeks and getting a letter is remote at best. Why don't you contact the state and verify how they received your info? Ask bridge tenders when you go through, ask the tax office, ask marine patrols, ask the uscg, customs, marinas etc. It isn't normal in any way for boats passing through to get a letter. Period.

[gonesail]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Pay the tax or pay in your home state.

I think that is right. Whichever state you keep the boat in is the one you will need to either pay sales tax .. or prove you have paid it somewhere else. Doesn't matter whether you live there

[Crazcarl]

Originally Posted by BBill

Maybe you need to reread and comprehend the op is buying a boat in florida and concerned about tax before he moves the boat. It had nothing to do with boat purchases outside of florida. Regardless, the chance of an out of state boat passing though for a couple of weeks and getting a letter is remote at best. Why don't you contact the state and verify how they received your info? Ask bridge tenders when you go through, ask the tax office, ask marine patrols, ask the uscg, customs, marinas etc. It isn't normal in any way for boats passing through to get a letter. Period.

Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and opinions. The boat is currently state registered in DE and will continue to be registered in DE. The current owner has the registration sticker, but it is not posted on the boat. I am assuming this is correct, as a few states do not allow state registrations if USCG documented. Unfortunately, I have not called the office yet, but am currently thinking that if they did send me a notice somehow, that I can point out that the boat is not registered, nor am I registering it in FL and I can show them receipts from when I have moved the boat out of Florida.

[Woodland Hills]

Originally Posted by Cadence

Lets make it political? Pay the tax or pay in your home state.

Not sure what was political. Just facts: Patriot Act did expand access to records as well as expanding reporting requirements and plate scanners exist and are used constantly by LEOs. All part of the Global War on Terrorism which seems to be successful.

BTW, I didn’t have to pay tax, I bought an LLC that owned a boat and registered it in Florida as an antique for $40 a year.