T&T: insurance by off shore registration

[Bob Austin]

Gil,
I am aware of the large number of Foreign flagged vessels in Florida.  There
is a tax loophole.  That is if the vessel was purchased more than 6 months
before being brought into Florida and there was no intent of bringing the boat
into Florida, there is no sales tax due.  Generally the state has taken the
position that if a boat belongs to a Florida Resident, there was intent to
bring the boat into the state.  There are ways around that--if you have a
house in another state or country--you can use the boat at the point and then
decide later to bring the boat into Florida.  I cannot comment on how this is
handled in the case of foreign flagged vessels.

On the other hand, I wonder how often a Florida Fish and Wildlife officer in a
26 foot boat stops and "Boards" a 150 foot yacht to check for registration.  I
do know that some counties have an empolyee who takes the time to go house to
house peroidically and check to see if the boats are properly registered.
Also, if you document a vessel and live in Florida, you will get a letter from
the tax people requesting payment--or an explaination why you are exempt.

I would resent it, if a person owned a many million dollar boat, and used
subtrifuge to avoid paying taxes in Florida.  I have no qualms about turning
in a boat which appears to be violating the tax law in Floirda.

There are very specific laws about registering the boat in Florida--a short
summary is if it spends more than 90 consecetive days or more than 180 days a
year in Florida, it must be Florida Registered--and taking a boat to a foreign
country does not count as being out of Florida--for Florida tax status.
Florida registration is not the same as Florida numbering--thus a documented
vessel--or even a foreign vessel which stays in Florida for more than the 90
consecetive days must be registered.  A foreign vessel has other customs
obligations.

Regards,

Bob Austin