Buying an American boat as Canadian

[jmschmidt]

Unlike Canadian "registered" there is no such thing as a "USA registered" boat. US vessels are either "documented" with and Official Number issued by the US Coast Guard or they are state "registered" by various states within the United States. If USCG "documented" they may also be "state registered" as some states require this for tax purposes. States that do not have a personal property tax usually do not require state registration of a vessel in addition to a USCG documentation. Or some vessels may be neither registered or documented and therefore probably illegal to be operated upon the navigable waters of the US.

Note: Only United States citizens, or US entities that are controlled by a majority of US citizens, may own a US Coast Guard "documented" vessel. Non-US citizens may only own state "registered" boats, however this may created problems when operating in foreign waters and ports.

Sea Lawyer

[Emouchet]

As a Canadian citizen in the US land you are considered as an alien. As an alien owner of a foreign flagged boat, sailing in US water, you will need to get a cruising license. The license is 12 month valid, and cannot be extended. Eventually after 12 month, if you did not quit US water, you will have to request a permit to proceed, allowing you to sail US water for leaving the country.

So, you need to plan leaving the US at least once per year, for a minimum period of 14 days. Before leaving, notify to border protection agent that you are leaving and get your cruising license closed. When back, ask for a new 12 month license again. I have friends doing that every year, sailing to Bahamas and back.

When cruising with your valid cruising license, you are requested to report regularly with your cruising license number by phone to a border control officer. Depending the state you will be sailing, you may need to report every time you move the boat or on some other state every time you change area.

[nwdiver]

Originally Posted by BernBruce

We are Canadian, and bought in Florida and sailed to Cuba and Cancun. Canada told us we could not register in Canada if it would never come here. Mexico wanted 16% tax. Finally we got a trusted captain in Mexico to someone, not back street either to register it for us in Delaware for 100 US, and about 120 US for paperwork, she does it all the time. We were trying to avoid paying taxes . Bernadette and Bruce

Whoever in Canada told you that was full of ..it

[Emouchet]

Registering the boat in Canada is a simple process:
1- Fill an application for registry document 84-0044E and Statement of Qualification 84-0002
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Corp-Serv-Ge.../84-0044_BO_PX
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Corp-Serv-Ge.../84-0002_BO_PX
2- Forward a bill of sale, signed by the former owner:
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Corp-Serv-Ge.../84-0015_BO_PX
3- Tonnage Measure Form:
http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Corp-Serv-Ge.../85-0405_BO_PX

Paye the registration fees.
Wait to received by the mail your new owner certificate.
This is it.

[nautitrix]

To the OP.
I have done exactly as you are doing and I can quickly run thru it. I am no expert but I am sitting on my American purchased, Canadian registered, boat in Virginia.
First off then the sales agent or the owner must arrange for the boat to become undocumented from US. federal documentation it is called "de-listing". You will need an official bill of sale and a notary to search and validate that there are no leans or federal funds owing. The Coast Guard will then de-list the boat. With proof of ownership and valid sales receipt you will then email copies of those documents, along with a formulated tonnage inspection and some required photographs as well as the Dept of Transport Canada forms available at their website, to Transport Canada. You will then need to pick a name and a home port from a list of available names and ports available and searchable on the Transport Canada website. You will need to pick three names and prioritize them and the Transport Canada people will give you one available based on your prioritization. You will then wait while they search and approve, at which time they will contact you.
If it is all good from your side, they will bill you on-line for between $250 and $280. Online credit card payment accepted and quickly expedites the transaction. You will then get your official number and in less than a week you will have your Canadian registration. The entire process took us less than three weeks.
Continue to follow the regulations.
You will not have to pay any fees or taxes other than a renewal every few years unless you enter the vessel into Canadian waters. If you do you will pay federal and provincial sales tax based on the province of the home-port. Canadian and American built boats fit under NAFTA so there should not be any import fee.
Now that you are the owner of a Canadian registered boat in US. waters you will need to get a US. cruising licence. A very easy process for a boat you have changed to Canadian registration. You will need to go to the nearest US. Customs and Border Services office and explain your situation and need. This cruising permit is nominally valid for 12 months in which you must normally prove you have left US. waters and spent at least 2 weeks in the waters of any other foreign country. I say this is all nominal as the regulations are not very well understood by some US. customs and border services officers. This results in quite a hodgepodge of regulation application. In our case the boat was built in the US. so there is a section of the regulation that allows us to not have to leave US. waters to successively renew our permit. Some CBSR officers will renew any valid cruising licence at anytime and without the required? leaving time. The end result is that if you can't defend your position within the regulations and be able to itemize it you can get a run-around. This is rarely because of rudeness but because a particular officer may not be privy to what is a very complicated document. In the end you will pay $19 a year to leave your Canadian boat in US. waters. Since you are buying in Florida you will probably be able to leave for Cuba or the Bahamas easily for 2 weeks. Do your due diligence and get a good survey prior to purchase or be prepared to travel a lot until your boat is ready to cruise.
The above represents my experience and I assure you that Transport Canada, is a wonderfully accessible outfit to do business with. Don't forget to get a permit for your communications equipment.
Have a great experience, we are!

[BigNut]

Originally Posted by nwdiver

Whoever in Canada told you that was full of ..it

Yes. Agreed. Just registered our vessel at the end of last year. It’s great to “own a little piece of Canada” on the high seas! Several advantages, from where we sat. 2p.

[LooseGoose]

Used Boat Registration

Taxation table Days % Max tax previously
Grace Tax Amount paid Titlle
State Period Rate Credit Issued

Maine 60 5.5 Y N
New Hampshire 30 N N
Massachussetts 60 6.25 Y Y
Rhode Island 90 N Y
Connecticut 60 7 Y N
New York 90 4-8 Y Y
New Jersey 180 7 Y Y
Delaware 60 N N
Maryland 90 5 Y Y
District of Columbia 50 5.75 Y Y
Virginia 90 4.3 $2,000.00 Y Y
North Carolina 90 4.7 $1,500.00 Y Y
South Carolina 60 6 Y Y
Georgia 60 4 Y N
Florida 90 6 $18,000.00 Y Y
Alabama 90 2 Y N
Louisiana 90 4 Y O
Texas 90 6.25 Y Y

Above info from Boat US website...regulatory affairs...from a few yeas back.

State registration will require proof of residency and/or citizenship. You need to check it out once you select where you want to do the registration.

If you register the vessel in Canada, you may need a tonnage survey, and you will need permits to proceed from port to port in the USA, as a foreign vessel....see the Jones Shipping Act.

A Canadian registered vessel can get a cruising permit good for up to one year in the USA. Then you must leave the US for a minimum of 15 days, re-enter, then apply for a new cruising permit. You need to see Customs and Immigration at a US port office to gain a full understanding of the rules from one of the officers. If your boat is already in the US, you cannot apply for a cruising permit, because you are not entering the US! You must travel under permits to proceed, until you get a departure certificate and physically leave. A lot of Canadian-flagged vessels can be seen in the Bahamas....likely for this reason.

Boating in the US is not like driving a car in the US. In a car you can go anywhere you like so long as you don't exceed your visitor visa time period. A boat is subject to an entirely different set of rules, and you really need to understand how they work and what you are expected to do as Captain.

Our experience was similar to Nautitrix above, good info....but in our case, we had to leave the US to then return to get a cruising permit. Your luck may be better than ours. We traveled from Massachusetts to Florida under permits, then crossed over to Bahamas, then went back...and it is all working out fine.

So bottom line is you need to get professional advice....there can be substantial consequences to your actions.

[nautitrix]

Is this vessel currently a Canadian registered vessel? I don't understand why Loosegoose had to use port permits all the way from Mass. to Florida.
There was never any problem for us. Was the boat made in the US.? Best I can suggest is that you have the boat brought to Norfolk and have the transaction done there. As I had said not all the officers know the rules. I have heard the line about not getting a permit from inside the country and the next day heard something else. I don't know what the rules are for buying a Canadian registered boat in the US. and getting a permit. If you are going to have trouble it would be best to make the transaction somewhere where you can get off-shore for the 2 weeks and come into the US. with the new registration and get a permit.

[Scaramanga F25]

I am a Canadian and have registerd 3 boats with the State of Florida and have gone abroad and returned to USA. Never a problem. Pay sales tax on a reasonable amount of 6%, in Broward, to the State. Yearly licensing fee varies on length of vessel.
About 100$ per annum.

[ALAIN97133]

Originally Posted by MisterTranquill

Hello all,Long story short, my wife and I are planing to buy a C&C 42 USA registered) in NC & sail from there heading South. As we are canadian we cannot register it in the USA. So I was wondering if someone knows if we buy it in, register it in Canada but do NOT bring it back to canada if we have to pay Canadian taxes? many thanks Sam

Hi! I'm Canadian: In 1974, when I was doing postgraduate studies in Edimburg, I bought, just before coming back home, a Dufour 27 & imported it duty free in Canada since, back in those days, provided you had lived at least a full year outside Canada & had purchased whatever at least six month before your return, you could import duty free your goodies, but I'm pretty sure the law has been changed since. In 1976, I purchased a Camper & Nicholson 31/6 tons in Southampton & sailed it over a three year period to Vancouver where I imported it duty free. Thereafter, I bought not one but two sailboats in the USA: a Chance 33 in Chicago (1980) & an Ericson 34 in Manistee across from Chicago (2014). In all cases I registered my baby in Canada but sailed them to the West Indies. Never sailed to Canada & never paid any taxes Cheers !

[nautitrix]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25

I am a Canadian and have registerd 3 boats with the State of Florida and have gone abroad and returned to USA. Never a problem. Pay sales tax on a reasonable amount of 6%, in Broward, to the State. Yearly licensing fee varies on length of vessel.
About 100$ per annum.

I have heard of others doing this but when I asked for details they did not respond.
I know that in Fl. the tax goes to the county that the boat is registered in and the address of a Marina is often acceptable as the county wants the money. They will also send the renewal documents out of the country. I am curious to know when you last used a Fl. registration to leave and re-enter the country and how that went at both ends of the journey. I am not critical, just very curious as it looked at one point to me like I may do exactly that.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by ALAIN97133

provided you had lived at least a full year outside Canada & had purchased whatever at least six month before your return, you could import duty free your goodies, but I'm pretty sure the law has been changed since.

It wasn't very different in 2016 when I moved back to Canada...

you have to have owned it for 6 months (keep receipts) ... and ...
you have to have been *resident* in a foreign country for more than a year (not cruising around 3 months in each country) ... and ...
you can only claim exemption for the first $10000 of each item (an ocean going yacht is probably going to significantly exceed that).

[ALAIN97133]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

It wasn't very different in 2016 when I moved back to Canada... you have to have owned it for 6 months (keep receipts) ... and ...you have to have been *resident* in a foreign country for more than a year (not cruising around 3 months in each country) ... and ...you can only claim exemption for the first $10000 of each item (an ocean going yacht is probably going to significantly exceed that).

Hi! I beleive the $10,000 per item limit was introduced after my arrival in 1979 in Vancouver 'cause I then asked the customs officer if he tought I wasn't pushing the law a bit with my then $30,000 sailboat... He answered "No! Two years ago, a Vancouver businessman sent his wife live in Seatle WA for a year and a day, where he joined her every weekend; after a year, she came back aboard a motor-yacht towing a seaplane that enter Canada duty free !" Cheers

[Navi2016]

Originally Posted by MisterTranquill

Hello all,

Long story short, my wife and I are planing to buy a C&C 42 USA registered) in NC and sail from there heading South.

As we are canadian we cannot register it in the USA. So I was wondering if someone knows if we buy it in, register it in Canada but do NOT bring it back to canada if we have to pay Canadian taxes?

many thanks

Sam

Yes, duty and taxes in Canada will be due when the vessel enters into Canadian waters for the first time. Ships registry doesn't seem to care where the vessel is located. If you decide to sell it, it will not be available for sale to a USA citizen in US Waters. That makes it a bit more interesting in the end.

That's my 2c

[ALAIN97133]

Originally Posted by Navi2016

Yes, duty and taxes in Canada will be due when the vessel enters into Canadian waters for the first time. Ships registry doesn't seem to care where the vessel is located. If you decide to sell it, it will not be available for sale to a USA citizen in US Waters. That makes it a bit more interesting in the end. That's my 2c

Hi! I assume that after sailing, for let say 3 or 4 years in the Tropics, the objective value of your sailboat is less than the purchase price. Make sure, it LOOKS shabby but that you can bring it back to its pristine state once across the Canadian borders Cheers