Understanding Florida 180 day tax waiver

[RickG]

Pay taxes and register in the state where you will home the boat. Virginia is cheaper than Maryland. But, if your boat spends more than 90 days in Maryland you'll owe excise tax in addition to Virginia sales tax. For that reason I just bit the bullet and registered in Maryland for a year, before I moved the boat to Florida. Taxes paid more than 6 months ago meant no taxes due when registering in Florida.

Cheers RickG

[WindwardPrinces]

Originally Posted by Adiona

FYI from Florida residents with a documented boat lying in Virginia. In certain counties in VA there is no tax, a new thing last year. Call a marina in the county you are interested in and they will have current info.

Makes sense if you're keeping the boat in Virginia.


If you're planning to move it back to Florida, will be interesting to see how that goes.


But why move a boat to Virginia, where the season is limited? You can boat year 'round in Florida. Unless, of course, you're avoiding hurricane season...

[moseriw]

So a good decision would be to avoid states and countries that are overloaded with regulations and taxes.



Think I will occupy an iceberg and declare myself as governor.

[HereAndNow]

Originally Posted by Fiftybucks

We want to go to the bahamas, but a year from now after my wife retires. It’s Hurricane season and the boat isn’t moving until Almost November which eats into my 180 days. I know there is the 90 day and 180 day waiver as I have just paid for the 180 and a filled out the notarized form. None of this is what I asked. It is not whether to pay taxes. We want to move it to Virginia but I am a newbie and can’t see doing more than 50 miles a day and it’s 1500 miles from Tampa to Virginia. It is is the time and does the receipt buy me more time. Do you see why I am asking?
Why do people get a receipt to show the boat has been elsewhere. Is it a scam? Are they doing something to get by the regulations? They do this receipt thing to what end? To who do they show this receipt? They can’t go back to Florida says right on the form.

I believe that this exclusion is offered for out of state persons who purchase a boat in Florida (with no intention of keeping the boat in Florida), but may need to have some repairs, maintenance and upgrades performed prior to departing. I am in such a situation now. We've purchased the boat and have had her hauled out for work and now are awaiting some additional work prior to leaving for the Bahama's.

From what I understand, you must remove the boat from Florida waters within 180 days. Then at your first out of state port, collect some sort of receipt for dockage or otherwise, with the boat name listed, which must be mailed to the Florida address provided. Otherwise, I would suspect that you will receive an invoice for taxes due!

Good luck!

[RSH]

Originally Posted by HereAndNow

I believe that this exclusion is offered for out of state persons who purchase a boat in Florida (with no intention of keeping the boat in Florida), but may need to have some repairs, maintenance and upgrades performed prior to departing. I am in such a situation now. We've purchased the boat and have had her hauled out for work and now are awaiting some additional work prior to leaving for the Bahama's.

From what I understand, you must remove the boat from Florida waters within 180 days. Then at your first out of state port, collect some sort of receipt for dockage or otherwise, with the boat name listed, which must be mailed to the Florida address provided. Otherwise, I would suspect that you will receive an invoice for taxes due!

Good luck!

This is exactly what we did this year. We're Georgia residents. We bought a boat in Florida. We got the 90 day waiver, and then had our delivery captain move the boat up to South Carolina (not stopping in Georgia, lol).

Florida sent us a "prove you left" letter and I sent them the delivery captain's invoice and paid receipt showing delivery to SC. They were satisfied.

[redneckrob]

Same thing here 2 years ago, received the letter, sent some receipts from the trip up the East Coast, and they responded that the matter was closed.

It does seem like the OP appears to think they have to physically have the boat in MD or VA to register or pay tax on it there. I can tell you this is definitely not the case in MD, you just bring them the documents and pay the tax. So you can use the tax paid exemptions in FL for years (going in and out per the required timelines) with a boat that paid tax in MD without the boat ever traveling to MD.

[john61ct]

In which case, once you know FL no longer needs sales/use tax, may as well make all the time based finagling moot by registering in FL, that is neither expensive nor inconvenient.

Whether or not federally documented irrelevant to both issues.

[RickG]

Originally Posted by john61ct

In which case, once you know FL no longer needs sales/use tax, may as well make all the time based finagling moot by registering in FL, that is neither expensive nor inconvenient.

Whether or not federally documented irrelevant to both issues.

Unless you want to spend more than 90 days in Maryland and pay 5% excise tax on top of FL sales tax.

Cheers, RickG

[jmschmidt]

Excuse me but these Florida Gestapo types have prove that you didn't leave Florida, you do not have to prove squat.

And people wonder why their legal right are being trampled on? Could be because they are too gutless to defend them.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

Excuse me but these Florida Gestapo types have prove that you didn't leave Florida, you do not have to prove squat.

And people wonder why their legal right are being trampled on? Could be because they are too gutless to defend them.

Florida's revenue collectors receive proof of your in-State purchase of a boat and thus notification that sales / use tax being due; all they are asking for is readily available proof that the non-resident owner removed the boat within the designated time period so as to allow the granting of a complete waiver of the sales/use taxes that otherwise would be immediately due if the buyer was a resident of the State. There is nothing inappropriate with their simple and fair administrative procedure to avail out of state residents a means to avoid Florida State taxation. Decidedly not Gestapo like, even for those inclined towards the "sovereign citizen movement".

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

Excuse me but these Florida Gestapo types have prove that you didn't leave Florida, you do not have to prove squat.

And people wonder why their legal right are being trampled on? Could be because they are too gutless to defend them.

You are conflating the assumption of innocence in **criminal** proceedings.

Tax courts just seize your property if you ignore them, the burden of proof that tax is not owed does indeed fall to the taxpayer.

Do not advise others as you would like the world to be ideologically.

[Island Time O25]

I am still confused on this issue.

Let's say the owner, a MA resident, 10-15 years ago bought a documented vessel registred in RI from another MA resident and registered and kept it in NH, a no sales tax state. And now wants to retire in FL taking the vessel with him there.

Q1: Will FL want its sales tax, if so under what law, legal rule or theory?

Q2: If assuming tax is due to FL on what value - the 10-15 year old purchase price or the current FMV? If the former I certainly see a huge issue with such an approach.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

I am still confused on this issue.

Let's say the owner, a MA resident, 10-15 years ago bought a documented vessel registred in RI from another MA resident and registered and kept it in NH, a no sales tax state. And now wants to retire in FL taking the vessel with him there.

Q1: Will FL want its sales tax, if so under what law, legal rule or theory?

Q2: If assuming tax is due to FL on what value - the 10-15 year old purchase price or the current FMV? If the former I certainly see a huge issue with such an approach.

Reference posts 8 and 11 which provide links to the specific Florida statutes. As with all taxation issues, the devil is in the details and specific facts, so read and discern the answer to your specific hypothetical.

It's just taxation, which as we all know is never controversial nor complex kind of like rocket science or climate science.

As to whether it is a huge issue, well that likely depends on the amount of tax that is due, if any.

But as to your hypothetical, why not throw in a few more States into the scenario while your at it. For example, to begin with one would need to research RI law as to whether a USCG documented boat would need to also be "registered" with the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which presumably would depend on whether the boat was kept in RI by the resident of the State of Massachusetts.

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

I am still confused on this issue.

Let's say the owner, a MA resident, 10-15 years ago bought a documented vessel registred in RI from another MA resident and registered and kept it in NH, a no sales tax state. And now wants to retire in FL taking the vessel with him there.

Q1: Will FL want its sales tax, if so under what law, legal rule or theory?

Q2: If assuming tax is due to FL on what value - the 10-15 year old purchase price or the current FMV? If the former I certainly see a huge issue with such an approach.

FYI. The "theory" of Florida Sales, Storage and Use tax is stated at the beginning of the statute and is based on the exercise of a taxable privilege, similar to many other taxation jurisdictions.

212.05 Sales, storage, use tax.— It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail in this state, including the business of making mail order sales, or who rents or furnishes any of the things or services taxable under this chapter, or who stores for use or consumption in this state any item or article of tangible personal property as defined herein and who leases or rents such property within the state.
(1) For the exercise of such privilege, a tax is levied on each taxable transaction or incident, which tax is due and payable as follows:

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

Excuse me but these Florida Gestapo types have prove that you didn't leave Florida, you do not have to prove squat.

And people wonder why their legal right are being trampled on? Could be because they are too gutless to defend them.

Nice rant, in the time it took to put that together you could have scanned a receipt and sent it over...issue resolved. And here in these United States there isn't the legal right to presumed non-taxation, although we do have a presumption of innocence in a criminal case. Maybe things are different in the place you come from?