Duties: Not for Sale in US Waters to US Citizen / Resident

[been bit]

We are looking into a boat that is for sale in Florida. On the website it says Duties: not for sale in US waters to US citizen/resident What does this mean? I'm Canadian my husband Austrian.

[teneicm]

This means the boat was never "imported" into the US. As soon as a boat is considered to be "for sale" (not "sold", mind you, just up for sale) in US waters it is subject to import duties (from ~1-3%, if I recall correctly; duty is based on where the boat was built). This statement allows the owners to get around the "for sale" trigger which would otherwise subject the boat to US import duties. I believe it also means that you would have to take the boat offshore and/or out US waters to effectuate the sale.

[capt_douglas]

teneicm is right but since you're non-US citizens the law doesn't apply to you, as far as I know. You might run into problems if you kept the boat in US waters for an extended period (and extended is a murky subject). I think Florida gives you 90 days to either register the boat or leave the state.

[CastOff]

My post is somewhat related in a backwards kind of way I have found a boat I wish to buy in Canada, but reside in the USA and am a citizen. My question is is how do I buy the boat without suffering a major financial hit bringing it 'home'? The Bill of sale thing is already covered, but the boat is home built and I am not sure where to look for regs on the importing of a homebuilt (abroad) boat that is over 15 years old?