Use taxes in Georgia

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by lfabio

skipmac, noted on City Marina. Unfortunately, I have one engine, comparatively small for the weight of the boat, and no bowthruster. She's also new to me, I bought her recently, so my confidence at present is low. I would have to be ... extremely careful to attempt an interesting mooring.

When I stopped there it was also in a new to me boat. Almost got very interesting as I first arrived at max current. If you time the arrival to slack water between hi and low tides it can be totally calm and easy to maneuver.

If you look at a chart the City Marina is pretty far up the river and reasonably well protected. A really strong wind from the SE might cause a little surge in the marina but even to the SE it isn't totally exposed.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by lfabio

.......... By the by, the alternative would be to come to the City Marina in Charleston, SC, which rwidman may be familiar with, from his location. To be frank, that's another case of 'too choppy for my taste'. I have noticed a distressing lack of breakwaters on the E coast.

I've only been there for fuel and that was only once because they made me walk the entire length of the megadock and back to pay my bill. That's about a half a mile.

Yes, the outside of the megadock can be pretty rough, depending on the weather. The inside? I'm not sure you want to go there unless you're the last boat at the end so you can back out easily. It's not inexpensive either. That's where the boat I mentioned above used to dock. "Themis". Yacht owner pays $280,130 tax bill - Post and Courier

You can go to active captain and find out all about it and get their website URL.

[BandB]

I've seen boats chained and everything else but not for those reasons. More typically for mechanics' liens or non payment of slip rental. Now, the consequence I have seen on non-payment of taxes is a lien placed that first became known and an issue when they went to sell the boat much later. And true impounds have generally come from far more serious matters.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by lfabio

letsgetsailing,
you have me confused for someone else. I never said I was a resident of Washington, most certainly, and a few posts prior on the previous page I had mentioned not being a US resident.

I know where the boat is registered - and I wrote as much, it's in DE. It is not Coast Guard documented, the prior owner didn't do that. I'll have to decide whether it's worth it or whether to change flag entirely.

My mistake. The thread was started by "truckman" (on page one), and your situation and questions are very similar to his, except for some small details...

So please forgive my confusion.

[lfabio]

letsgetsailing, no apology necessary.

skipmac and Ron, you seem to have... differing views of the quantity of surge. From what I could tell looking at charts, there's a mile or two of fetch from the III quadrant, plus some further shallow water (<4') fetch to total almost three miles. That's not awful, but not great either.

As to docking inside, yes, I'd have to go in, turn around carefully and moor stbdside to the Megadock. The turning is perhaps best attempted at slack tide with negligible wind.

My other concern there is that looking at GRIBs, Charleston gets hit with significantly more 20+kt days than Brunswick. Friday, I am seeing a 30+kt day with 40+kt gusts which would have me very nervous - even though the wind is from the I quadrant.
I am not in a position where I can rush down to the boat in half an hour if the wind picks up, so I have to choose my location carefully.

Finally, as to the GA tax situation, the nice Ms. Andrea from the comptroller's office has confirmed, in writing, that they would have no issue with me or anyone else staying 'less than 184 days' in GA waters, since we would not incur a tax liability. She did encourage me to check with the wildlife department as to the registration specifically, which I have done. I will report on that also as soon as I have news, they do not seem to be as quick in replying to emails.

[RTB]

Originally Posted by lfabio

Finally, as to the GA tax situation, the nice Ms. Andrea from the comptroller's office has confirmed, in writing, that they would have no issue with me or anyone else staying 'less than 184 days' in GA waters, since we would not incur a tax liability. She did encourage me to check with the wildlife department as to the registration specifically, which I have done. I will report on that also as soon as I have news, they do not seem to be as quick in replying to emails.

Thank you so much for taking the time to find the answers, and sharing them with us.

Ralph

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by RTB

I thought this thread was about Georgia....pay attention.

Ralph

Dude:

The OP already posted about the possibility of keeping his boat in SC to lessen the tax burden.

Perhaps it is you who should be paying attention.

[lfabio]

This morning I received an email from the dept. of wildlife:

'As a result, your scenario referenced below, where removal of the vessel from GA waters would occur in less than 60 consecutive days, would exempt it from the registration requirement.'

So therefore, to recap, we have written, official confirmation from the state government agencies that:

1) You can stay in the waters of the state for 183 days or less each calendar year, contiguous or not, without incurring any tax liability

2) Each SINGLE CONTIGUOUS period, even if it were across calendar year boundaries, must be of 59 days or less. Exiting the waters of the state for one full day (leave day 1 -> stay out day 2 -> come back day 3) is an acceptable way to reset the 59 day count.

This is the case for pleasure use US flagged vessels which are (other-)state or coast guard registered.

I hope to have brought clarity to the issue. For myself, I'll be spending 3 days in Fernandina and going back to Brunswick.

Thank you Ron for encouraging me to contact the government offices directly. I was pleasently surprised at how quickly and effectively they answered.

I'll be on the old Swan in Brunswick Landing.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by lfabio

This morning I received an email from the dept. of wildlife:

'As a result, your scenario referenced below, where removal of the vessel from GA waters would occur in less than 60 consecutive days, would exempt it from the registration requirement.'

So therefore, to recap, we have written, official confirmation from the state government agencies that:

1) You can stay in the waters of the state for 183 days or less each calendar year, contiguous or not, without incurring any tax liability

2) Each SINGLE CONTIGUOUS period, even if it were across calendar year boundaries, must be of 59 days or less. Exiting the waters of the state for one full day (leave day 1 -> stay out day 2 -> come back day 3) is an acceptable way to reset the 59 day count.

This is the case for pleasure use US flagged vessels which are (other-)state or coast guard registered.

I hope to have brought clarity to the issue. For myself, I'll be spending 3 days in Fernandina and going back to Brunswick.

There you go, direct from the horse's mouth. Now keep that in a safe place and make a copy for your boat. A receipt from an out of state marina each time you leave would be a good idea. Keep those also.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by lfabio

.........skipmac and Ron, you seem to have... differing views of the quantity of surge. From what I could tell looking at charts, there's a mile or two of fetch from the III quadrant, plus some further shallow water (<4') fetch to total almost three miles. That's not awful, but not great either..........

I keep my boat up the Ashley River so I pass the Charleston City Marina every time I go anywhere. The channel passes right in front of the megadock. It's supposed to be a no wake zone and that's how I treat it but often the natural waves are a lot more than my wake would be. It's really unprotected. The inside would be better and inside slips better than that but if maneuverability is an issue you might not want to try that. Check active captain and cruisers.net for other people's opinions.

[lfabio]

Ron,
I certainly will keep the paperwork and make very sure I have marina receipts to prove I was outside GA.

As to the marina in SC, I cannot stay in the inner quays because of draft, so I am forced to stay on the inside of the Megadock as the next best option - praying fervently that my luck holds, if that is ever the case, and I manage not to land on a soft Bavaria. As to activecaptain in general, people seem a lot more concerned about the quality of the showers than the quality of the docking space, which is certainly legitimate but a bit puzzling to me. It was the first place I looked and it's an excellent directory, but I'd rather know if I'm going to have cleats torn out of the deck by swell than know if the dockhands were polite. Just sayin'.

I'll check cruisers.net.

[Phantoms]

Originally Posted by Crosis

This entire thread is fascinating and shocking to me. I have only owned boats while in Florida so the idea that a state can charge an ad velorum tax on anything other than a house is flooring. Its clearly an unfair tax and you should move the boat. I would NEVER give in to that level of tyranny. Hell in 1776 we fought and wiped out the largest army on Earth because of taxes like this.

Though it may not be called the same thing, in Fl. it's tacked onto fuel taxes. The reason fuel is more expensive when you cross over from GA.

[easyvictor]

Hi all,

Although now 3 years old, this thread has been really useful for me as I'm in the process of buying a used boat in FL through a broker. I'm thinking of moving it to GA within the grace period for out-of-state buyers.

From what I've read, if you buy a boat through a dealer or broker in FL, and decline to pay sales tax claiming you will move the boat, FL will notify GA about the purchase, then when you go to register in GA you will be hit with tax there. I understand that much.

My addition wrinkle is that the boat will not be "used" in GA -- I plan on storing it "on the hard" for about 6 months before splashing it and leaving the state again. Do I need to pay sales/use tax on a boat brought to GA if I never actually "use" it, and just keep in in dry storage? I think this hinges on 2 questions:
1) If I never register the boat in GA, will they ever try to collect sales tax?
2) Am I required to register a boat in GA if I keep in on the hard?

Advice appreciated!

[lfabio]

Sorry EV, I can't help you there.

But, I will point out that the local authorities are very responsive and polite. I'd do ... what I did and check with them. Check with BOTH entities to be certain.

[sailjumanji]

When we purchased our cat in Florida, there were two things that had to be done to avoid FL sales tax. First, the boat had to leave FL within x days. Second, we had to show that we had paid sales tax (in Texas, where we moved the boat). We were contacted by FL tax authority to supply records and proof the boat had been out of FL by the time deadline, plus they wanted to see record of sales tax paid in TX. That was all in 2006.