Could anyone suggest the pros/cons of moving a vessels registration
offshore?

wrote in message
ups.com...
Could anyone suggest the pros/cons of moving a vessels
registration
offshore?

Offshore from where?

On 4 Apr 2006 12:10:32 -0700, "boatgeek"
wrote:

Minuses
* you would need a cruising permit by the US Customs Service to be
exempt from the above and you would have to leave US waters to renew
regularly.

There are some other items in the minus column. Typically an
offshore boat is not owned by an individual, but rather by a foreign
corporate entity established just for that purpose. There are fees
involved with establishing and maintaining that entity, as well as
other corporate responsibilities such as periodic reports, meetings,
etc. You may also be required to have a percentage of ownership, or
some other form of representation, by a local group.

An offshore boat also has time limits on how long it can remain in the
US, and/or within individual states. Careful records must be
maintained to demonstrate that those rules are adhered to, otherwise
there are tax consequences.

On 4 Apr 2006 14:54:02 -0500, Dave wrote:

So basically, you think it will help you cheat on taxes.

Inflammatory language and a bit judgemental in my opinion. If you
have a substantial boat that frequently moves from state to state and
country to country, exactly what governmental body should benefit from
the taxes on your boat? All? None?

There are many boats in that category, and not all are mega yachts.

Unless you do something like offshore registration everyone will be
trying to get their hooks into it one way or another.

On 4 Apr 2006 18:56:01 -0500, Dave wrote:

If you
have a substantial boat that frequently moves from state to state and
country to country, exactly what governmental body should benefit from
the taxes on your boat? All? None?

Each has its own rules for how long a boat can remain in its jurisdiction
without requiring payment of a fee or tax.

Exactly, so why not domicile the boat in a place with low or no taxes?

Is that cheating as you stated ?

It is a long standing principle of tax law that there is nothing that
requires you to organize your affairs in a way that maximizes taxes.

On 4 Apr 2006 21:17:01 -0500, Dave wrote:

The place you get into tax
fraud is when you claim the boat lives somewhere other than where it does,
and pull out the registration or documentation papers to prove it.

Where does the boat "live" when it is constantly on the move? Those
are the folks with a legitimate reason to document offshore. No fraud
or cheating involved, just good business.

On 5 Apr 2006 09:43:03 -0500, Dave wrote:

In that case, the answer is obvious. Federal documentation. A one-time cost
and no annual renewal fees. And if it's not in any state for more than about
60 days, no requirement to pay any state taxes or fees on the vessel.

Whatever state you document in will try to claim it. The local tax
folks have gotten very efficient at screening for "their" boats. If
you document in a "no tax" state like Delaware, it's like waving a red
flag everywhere you go. Even Delaware will want you to buy a sticker.

If a state or local tax authority makes a claim against your boat, it
is your obligation to prove that no tax is due. Otherwise they can
file a USCG lien against it, and go to auction if unpaid. I just got
out of a messy situation in South Carolina caused by the alleged
misdeeds of a previous owner. It took over 6 months to resolve and
some help from my son the law student. If I had documented through an
offshore corporation, the boat would have been virtually untraceable.

When the stakes are high, offshore has its merits. That's why so many
mega yachts are registerd in places like the Cayman Islands and the
BVI.

On 5 Apr 2006 15:43:02 -0500, Dave wrote:

You mean you think the state officials check the CG's documentation records
regularly for vessels listed as home ported in their states? I don't think
so. Totally inconsistent with my experience.


You've been fortunate, so far. NY was very agressive with this at one
time.


Recall that the home port can be either where the vessel is kept or where
the owner lives.

Old rule. For the last 5 or 6 years it has been possible to select
any US home port that you wanted.