How to Purchase a Far Away Boat

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

I think I'm with you and Cheechako on this point. But perhaps my original idea of a vague question like, "Is your price firm or flexible?" might be helpful to prevent a wasted trip?

We are selling our boat right now and I can tell you that this question and "how low will you go?", "what is yourlowest price?" Etc really set off the looky loos from the serious buyer.

The bestter tactic is to start with YOUR offer, the buyer can counter offer. The problem with your question is that its one sided negotion. The potential buyer has no skin in the game. For the seller you may as well ask "can I just have the boat for free?"

Of course thats not your intention but you need to put yourself out there and tell the buyer how serious you are. No, you don't want to waste your trip and the best way to do that is to tell the buyer your needs up front.

[hellosailor]

orange-
The good news is that you do not have to pay any sales tax back in NY. The bad news is that you have to pay USE TAX at the same rate as sales tax, paid when you bring the boat back and register it. Offhand, you may have up to 90 days to do that, I don't know the current limit on time. But NYS can and will be relentless about collecting taxes if you don't pay them on time, and quickly adding penalties.
One thing you can do to reduce taxes, is to "split" the sale of the boat. This can complicate things (i.e. insurance value) but it is legal. You buy the boat, let's say for $50,000. And, you have the new sails, cushions, electronics, anchor and rode, pots and pans...all removed from the boat (wtf, you'll want to clean anyway) and you purchase those for $15,000 separately. The "personal property" is not subject to sales tax. You've just reduced your taxes, from 8% on $65,000 to 8% on $50,000.
If the sails are old, the cushions worn, the electronics not worth much...obviously it can be a worthless difference. But it may be worth considering.


Don't expect a sea trial until AFTER a contract is made and deposit paid.


And the painted mast? Good and bad. It is about the only way to clean up an old mast, because re-anodizing is damned expensive and inconvenient. (Try shipping that mast around.) The paint will last maybe ten years, and then you can either ignore it or re-do it. Or strip it and ship it out for re-anodizing.(G)


Sellers living on the boat may not be in any hurry to leave, and if they don't leave on time...that's like buying an occupied house, what do you do then? Something to consider, and to ask about.


I've always argued that anything (boat, car, mail order bride, mansion) that isn't sold in 90 days is either: oddball, improperly marketed, or very overpriced.


There's this thing called the internet. Someone is always looking for something, and unless it is terribly overpriced, 90 days is long enough to sell most anything.


I suspect there's a way to read the Yachtworld listing numbers, which might be issued chronologically, to get an idea of when a listing was first made. Maybe someone knows for sure about that.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

orange-
The good news is that you do not have to pay any sales tax back in NY. The bad news is that you have to pay USE TAX at the same rate as sales tax, paid when you bring the boat back and register it. Offhand, you may have up to 90 days to do that, I don't know the current limit on time. But NYS can and will be relentless about collecting taxes if you don't pay them on time, and quickly adding penalties.....

I suspect there's a way to read the Yachtworld listing numbers, which might be issued chronologically, to get an idea of when a listing was first made. Maybe someone knows for sure about that.

Very useful info, thanks. The SC 39 is listed on sailboatlistings.com, not Yachtworld. I'm not sure how I can see the age of a listing but that would be helpful.

The listing for the Morgan 384 that I linked to says "$75,000 Tax Paid" What does that mean, exactly, and is it relevant to the taxes I will pay back in New York?

Also, can you tell me with certainty if the tax I will need to pay upon registration in New York will be the 4.5% state use tax or the 8.75% combined state sales and use and local sales tax? It should be no surprise that calling the DMV was not exactly helpful.

[hellosailor]

You will have to pay the combined USE tax, no sales tax since there was no SALE within the state. Whether that is based on your county/city of residence, or the county/city that the boat is registered to (if they are different) I don't know.


But either the DMV web site, or the state sales tax web site, should clarify that.


Folks at any DMV that isn't "by the water" and don't deal in boats on a regular basis, are outright dangerous in NY. They spout off whatever they please, rather than admit they aren't familiar with it, and leave you to be stuck with the consequences.


If you do try to call, try a specific location like Huntington,LI, where the number of boats in Huntington Harbor gives them some experience.(G)

[Cadence]

It may behoove you to register in SC and pay the caped sales tax.. And then move to NYC. Just an out of the box thought.

[OrangeCrush]

Originally Posted by Cadence

It may behoove you to register in SC and pay the caped sales tax.. And then move to NYC. Just an out of the box thought.

Not trying to shirk my civic responsibility, as such, but I am open to creative ideas. But I'm guessing that I would eventually need to pay the NY tax after I "moved" upon registration in NY since it's a use tax and not a sales tax anyway.

[hellosailor]

IIRC NYC declares you to be a legal "resident" after you've been there for 30 days. NYS, I'm not sure. So depending on where you've been and for how long, you may or may not already qualify as a serf. Ergh, resident.


I have no idea what the NYS terms are, but if you are *not* a resident yet, it pays to check them. Some states require use tax when you "import" a vehicle that you've owned elsewhere. (Florida will require use tax on cars that you may have owned while living in Montana for 20 year previously. Honest. And a hefty re-titling fee.) Other states will say that if you've owned it for xx years elsewhere, it can move in with you, no extra charge.


And of course, once you and the vehicle (auxiliary sailboats being "motor vehicles" in most states) move into the state and pay up, that account is paid and finished, regardless of any other moves within the same state.


FWIW.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by OrangeCrush

Not trying to shirk my civic responsibility, as such, but I am open to creative ideas. But I'm guessing that I would eventually need to pay the NY tax after I "moved" upon registration in NY since it's a use tax and not a sales tax anyway.

You may be right. I am not familiar with a use tax. SC has a caped sales tax and an annual property tax which is probably called a use tax there. Is the sales tax caped there? That was my point you may skip a couple of bucks sales tax wise. Probably not worth the effort to mess with it. Birth, death and taxes.