On Feb 20, 9:59?am, wrote:
On 20 Feb 2007 04:47:50 -0800, "Keith"
wrote:

There is a guy there that routinely hassles transiting boaters with no
FL registration. Never mind that you can pass through FL without FL
numbers, he will give you a ticket anyway. Here are some comments and
people to write if this concerns you.

Did you have out of state ID? If you dropped a Florida DL on him I can
see his point.
In the end all of this licensing and registration is about tax money.



Good point about the primary ID. Hadn't considered that might be the
case. Pretty tough to convice a cop that while you're a FLA resident
your privately owned boat isn't. I think that if the hairs got split
down to micro-fine, while enroute to a launch the boat is simply cargo
on a trailer- and most states will require some sort of licensing or
registration information for a trailer. Absent any current tabs on the
trailer, that might create "probable cause" for investigating the
ownership of the boat.

It's too bad that states enforce their tax and registration laws so
arbitrarily.
I can point to a couple of dozen very large and expensive boats in the
local area with Oregon registrations, even though the boats never
leave Puget Sound and have never been near the state of Oregon. Nor do
the owners maintain a residence in Oregon. (about 9% sales tax in
Washington, none in Oregon). While the state is losing some big dough
from people who are willing to lie to evade sales taxes on sometimes
multi-million dollar boat purchases, they just threw the book as some
poor schmuck for $6,000 in tobacco taxes because he was ordering
cigarettes from some out of state tribe. Don't know what he makes, but
according the news it's going to take him 18 months to pay this off if
the state garnishes 20% of his wages so I guess it's about $1600 a
month. I have always advocated registering a boat according to the law
and in the primary state of residence.

Chuck Gould wrote:
On Feb 20, 9:59?am, wrote:
On 20 Feb 2007 04:47:50 -0800, "Keith"
wrote:

There is a guy there that routinely hassles transiting boaters with no
FL registration. Never mind that you can pass through FL without FL
numbers, he will give you a ticket anyway. Here are some comments and
people to write if this concerns you.
Did you have out of state ID? If you dropped a Florida DL on him I can
see his point.
In the end all of this licensing and registration is about tax money.

It's too bad that states enforce their tax and registration laws so
arbitrarily.

Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay "usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. Which basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. Pretty neat huh?

On Feb 20, 12:22�pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:


Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay "usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. *Which basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. *Pretty neat huh?

That use tax thing isn't all that uncommon. We have a version of it in
Washington. I think you'll find that simply being in a marina doesn't
trigger the tax if you're just passing through. After a statutory
period of time in a dedicated slip, (often 90 days), many states
conclude that a boat is being kept in the state on a permanent basis
and will require the vessel to be registered in the state. "Use tax"
is a substitute for sales tax, as there is no actual sale being made.
The good news is that if you paid sales tax when you bought your boat
(and have the purchase paperwork to prove it) nearly all states honor
a "reciprocal" agreement with other sales tax collecting states.
If the sales tax rate was as high or higher where the boat was
purchased, you normally get a free pass on the "use tax" (but not the
tab fee) in the second state. If the tax was lower, you typically have
to pay the difference. If a purchase in State A was originally taxed
at 5% and State B collects 9%, moving a boat from State A to State B
will trigger a 4% use tax.

States with higher sales taxes than neighboring states, (especially
back east where the state lines are a couple of hundred yards apart
grin), rely on such a system to prevent each and every vehicle and
vessel purchase being made
just across the state line.

A lot of times people react with a wink, a nod, and a "good for you!"
when they hear of somebody lying to evade taxes. I wonder how many of
the supporters stop to consider that somebody is still paying for all
of the government services that the tax evaders use, and that somebody
is (partially) them. I'm not much better, I tend to turn a blind but
disapproving eye toward bogus out-of-state boat registrations; I guess
there's a difference between not being the least bit sympathetic when
the liars and cheaters are caught and actually turning them in.

On 21 Feb 2007 08:42:00 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

On Feb 20, 12:22?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:


Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay "usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. hich basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. retty neat huh?

snip

A lot of times people react with a wink, a nod, and a "good for you!"
when they hear of somebody lying to evade taxes. I wonder how many of
the supporters stop to consider that somebody is still paying for all
of the government services that the tax evaders use, and that somebody
is (partially) them. I'm not much better, I tend to turn a blind but
disapproving eye toward bogus out-of-state boat registrations; I guess
there's a difference between not being the least bit sympathetic when
the liars and cheaters are caught and actually turning them in.

Not sure exactly how and why it works, but having a dealer invoice or
title the outboard separately when a boat is bought outside of Florida
eliminates Florida sales tax on the outboard for the purchaser.
Whether the savings is worthwhile logistically or in terms of
addressing the ethical issues is another question.
But I intend to get the answers.

--Vic

Vic Smith wrote:
On 21 Feb 2007 08:42:00 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

On Feb 20, 12:22?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay "usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. hich basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. retty neat huh?
snip
A lot of times people react with a wink, a nod, and a "good for you!"
when they hear of somebody lying to evade taxes. I wonder how many of
the supporters stop to consider that somebody is still paying for all
of the government services that the tax evaders use, and that somebody
is (partially) them. I'm not much better, I tend to turn a blind but
disapproving eye toward bogus out-of-state boat registrations; I guess
there's a difference between not being the least bit sympathetic when
the liars and cheaters are caught and actually turning them in.

Not sure exactly how and why it works, but having a dealer invoice or
title the outboard separately when a boat is bought outside of Florida
eliminates Florida sales tax on the outboard for the purchaser.
Whether the savings is worthwhile logistically or in terms of
addressing the ethical issues is another question.
But I intend to get the answers.

Get this - in Rhode Island, only the boat and trailer is taxed, not the
engine.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
Vic Smith wrote:
On 21 Feb 2007 08:42:00 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

On Feb 20, 12:22?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:

Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay
"usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. hich basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. retty neat huh?
snip
A lot of times people react with a wink, a nod, and a "good for you!"
when they hear of somebody lying to evade taxes. I wonder how many of
the supporters stop to consider that somebody is still paying for all
of the government services that the tax evaders use, and that somebody
is (partially) them. I'm not much better, I tend to turn a blind but
disapproving eye toward bogus out-of-state boat registrations; I guess
there's a difference between not being the least bit sympathetic when
the liars and cheaters are caught and actually turning them in.

Not sure exactly how and why it works, but having a dealer invoice or
title the outboard separately when a boat is bought outside of Florida
eliminates Florida sales tax on the outboard for the purchaser.
Whether the savings is worthwhile logistically or in terms of
addressing the ethical issues is another question.
But I intend to get the answers.

Get this - in Rhode Island, only the boat and trailer is taxed, not the
engine.

Same in Florida, as long as it's an outboard.

"Vic Smith" wrote in message
...
On 21 Feb 2007 08:42:00 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

On Feb 20, 12:22?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:


Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay "usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. hich basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. retty neat huh?

snip

A lot of times people react with a wink, a nod, and a "good for you!"
when they hear of somebody lying to evade taxes. I wonder how many of
the supporters stop to consider that somebody is still paying for all
of the government services that the tax evaders use, and that somebody
is (partially) them. I'm not much better, I tend to turn a blind but
disapproving eye toward bogus out-of-state boat registrations; I guess
there's a difference between not being the least bit sympathetic when
the liars and cheaters are caught and actually turning them in.

Not sure exactly how and why it works, but having a dealer invoice or
title the outboard separately when a boat is bought outside of Florida
eliminates Florida sales tax on the outboard for the purchaser.
Whether the savings is worthwhile logistically or in terms of
addressing the ethical issues is another question.
But I intend to get the answers.

I bought my last boat new in South Carolina. When I brought it home to
Florida all I had to pay tax on was the price listed on the invoice for the
hull. You only pay tax on the portion of the boat that is titled, ie the
outboard. So it's important to have the boat and outboard as separate line
items on the invoice.

On 21 Feb 2007 08:42:00 -0800, "Chuck Gould"
wrote:

On Feb 20, 12:22?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
wrote:


Hey, look at it this way - it could be CT where you have to pay "usuage"
tax - whoops, I meant fee - if your boat is registered out of state and
it's in a marina here in CT.

CT also is a non-title state for boats. hich basically means that you
can steal a boat in another state, bring it here, register it and take
it to another title state to sell it. retty neat huh?

That use tax thing isn't all that uncommon. We have a version of it in
Washington. I think you'll find that simply being in a marina doesn't
trigger the tax if you're just passing through. After a statutory
period of time in a dedicated slip, (often 90 days), many states
conclude that a boat is being kept in the state on a permanent basis
and will require the vessel to be registered in the state. "Use tax"
is a substitute for sales tax, as there is no actual sale being made.
The good news is that if you paid sales tax when you bought your boat
(and have the purchase paperwork to prove it) nearly all states honor
a "reciprocal" agreement with other sales tax collecting states.
If the sales tax rate was as high or higher where the boat was
purchased, you normally get a free pass on the "use tax" (but not the
tab fee) in the second state. If the tax was lower, you typically have
to pay the difference. If a purchase in State A was originally taxed
at 5% and State B collects 9%, moving a boat from State A to State B
will trigger a 4% use tax.

States with higher sales taxes than neighboring states, (especially
back east where the state lines are a couple of hundred yards apart
grin), rely on such a system to prevent each and every vehicle and
vessel purchase being made
just across the state line.

A lot of times people react with a wink, a nod, and a "good for you!"
when they hear of somebody lying to evade taxes. I wonder how many of
the supporters stop to consider that somebody is still paying for all
of the government services that the tax evaders use, and that somebody
is (partially) them. I'm not much better, I tend to turn a blind but
disapproving eye toward bogus out-of-state boat registrations; I guess
there's a difference between not being the least bit sympathetic when
the liars and cheaters are caught and actually turning them in.


When I bought my boat, I registered it in Maryland, as that is where it was
docked. I paid the taxes, titled it there, and did everything I was
supposed to do.

Now I'm registering it in Virginia. To do so, I must get it titled in
Virginia. To do that, I must send the Virginia folks the MD title, the MD
registration, and *proof* that I paid MD taxes.

Well, I don't recall getting a receipt from MD for the taxes, but I *did*
get a title, which should be proof enough I paid the taxes. But it's not.

So, I called MD. To get a copy of the records showing my payment of the
taxes, I must send them $16 and a records request form, which must be
notarized!

We take this **** seriously in this part of the country!
--
*****Have a Spectacular Day!*****

John H