Florida registration for federally documented boats

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Old thread but what I'm looking for.

We have a USCG registered boat. We have had it for 6 years. We want to leave it on the hard for 6 months. What is my exposure? Fees of $200 is no big deal. NSales tax would be. The link above is now broken.

Anyone with recent experience or a valid link?

My understanding is if you are storing it on the hard there is no tax liability... ? Also if it is for sale...

[sail50]

If you have an active EPIRB on your boat, the county will give you a 10% discount on your boat registration. At least in Collier County. I have been stopped at least twice (my hailing port is not FL) in the last 2 years to check on my county registration.......

[capt-couillon]

Own documented vessel and living on the mooring in Boot Key Harbor.
Florida requires vessels not titled in the State of Florida, and in Florida waters more than 90 days to apply for a Florida State Sticker. For a USCG documented vessel, the numbers on the sticker will match your USCG number. No title, no sales tax involved.

Fees depend on length of vessel and generally range from $120-$180. Sticker must be clearly displayed. Take your paperwork to the closest county tax accessors office. In and out.

[jkleins]

Is this different if the owner is a Florida resident? If you move a boat that you have had for years in another state to Florida and try to also establish residency there does the exemption to state use tax still apply?

Jim

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by jkleins

Is this different if the owner is a Florida resident? If you move a boat that you have had for years in another state to Florida and try to also establish residency there does the exemption to state use tax still apply?

Jim

Unless the law has changed since I bought my boat then yes, the exemption is good. The explanation I got from Florida is you must buy the boat and legitimately keep and use the boat outside the state for a minimum of six months, whether you are a Florida resident or not. When I spoke with the FL tax office I got the impression that if you were a FL resident when you purchased a boat and claimed this exemption you would probably be held to a higher standard of proof.

If you were not a Florida resident when you purchased the boat AND kept and used the boat min six months in another state then you should be clear.

Also, if you paid sales tax on the purchase in another state you will get credit for that in Florida if you are found liable for the FL sales tax.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I don't think the Boattax web site is correct. We moved to Florida from NC in 2011 and registered our boat there. We purchased the boat used from the PO and in NC there is no sales/use tax on the purchase of a used boat from an individual, so we had paid no sales/use tax on it. We purchased the boat in 2005 and used it for almost 6 years in NC. When we registered the boat we did not have to pay Sales/use tax in Florida. Our boat is documented so we did not get Fl numbers but we do have to put a sticker on the window. I don't understand the 90 consecutive day statement with regards to tax. We were told if you have the boat in Fl more than 90 consecutive days or more than 183 days per year you had to register it in Florida, not pay tax if you otherwise met the exemption criteria.

Moved my previous fed documented boat to FL from TX years ago and had a similar experience. Had to register in FL and paste a registation sticker on the boat, but no FL registration numbers and no sales tax.

Aarghh...just noticed that post was from 2013! There should be a notification feature for old resurected threads.

[belizesailor]

Hpeer, also suggest you give FL officials a call (IIRC its ultimately FL Dept of Revenue or similar). I used to work in the charter industry there and workd thru tax/registration issues with them on a few occassions and they were quite helpful (at least back then).