Best state to register a new-to-us boat

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by smj

If in Florida for over 90 days I believe you are required to state register it in Fl.
If your not a resident of the state of Fl., didn’t buy the boat there and have owned your boat in a different state for over 6 months, then I don’t believe you will owe Fl use or sales tax. https://floridarevenue.com/forms_lib...t/gt800005.pdf

Which leads to the curious dilemma. My parents solved it by ignoring it for a couple decades. But, they lived in FL, where the boat was documented and registered and spent about 1/2 the year. But, every spring, they would bring it north to Maryland, where they would spend about 4-5 months, then go home. If it is possible (not sure), then they could theoretically permanently maintain both Maryland and Florida stickers (sounds wrong, but maybe it is legal). Otherwise, they would have to register it in each state, each year.


It equally applies to cars, where the basic rule is the same -- you have 90 days from moving into a state to register your car there. But with cars, you have to actually turn in the plates and get new ones (complete with safety inspections, etc). I think most snow birds ignore this, and keep one license plate/state all year long.

[smj]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

Which leads to the curious dilemma. My parents solved it by ignoring it for a couple decades. But, they lived in FL, where the boat was documented and registered and spent about 1/2 the year. But, every spring, they would bring it north to Maryland, where they would spend about 4-5 months, then go home. If it is possible (not sure), then they could theoretically permanently maintain both Maryland and Florida stickers (sounds wrong, but maybe it is legal). Otherwise, they would have to register it in each state, each year.


It equally applies to cars, where the basic rule is the same -- you have 90 days from moving into a state to register your car there. But with cars, you have to actually turn in the plates and get new ones (complete with safety inspections, etc). I think most snow birds ignore this, and keep one license plate/state all year long.

Remember the days when Florida issued snowbird licenses? A beautiful and appreciated thing!
I was just trying to state the legal regulations.