I'm afraid that for the rest of our lives, no matter what the subject or activity there will be taxes, fees or permits of some type to pay.

I documented my boat in Maine. They caught up with me because the CG contacted the state. I had to pay the tax plus interest because it took a year for them to figure it out. But this state sucks when it comes to this stuff anyway!

From what I understand, coast guard documentation does NOT clear you of state sales/excise tax. As far as I know, you will still have to pay the tax the state requires. You will probably also have to register with the state. I believe that you don't have to run state registration numbers with cg documentation though. From what I've read, it differs per state though.

In OK, the sales/excise tax is very low. The tax amount is based on the original sales price of the boat cut in half for every year of age. So if you bought a 5 year old boat that was $300k new, you would pay 3.25% of $9375 or about $305.00. At least we have something going for us here!

Yes, documentation is good in all states. All that means is that the hull does need any numbers. Instead, the name is how it's Registered/documented.

You still need a registration decal and you'll still need to pay sales tax in order to get that decal and a new title.

Delaware doesn't have a tax based on percentage of sale. They charge $30/yr to register a boat.......period. For a couple hundred bucks you can incorporate in Delaware and have the boat owned by that corp. (Assuming your lender, Ins, and marina/storage facilities don't create a problem with this method). Annual fees for a corp come to about $140/yr.

That varies depending on what state you live in. You may still need to register it in the state or at least pay your appropriate tax and get a sticker.

My advice is use the search function at the top of the menu. USCG documentation has been discussed ayt length for many states.

Federal Documentation does NOT exempt you from state sales tax. You still have to obtain state registration. Some states do not collect taxes, but Ohio does. They found me two years later and made a generous offer that if I paid the tax and interest owed on the tax, they would drop the very stiff fine.

When we bought the 288 it was the hardest check I ever had to write in my life to the state of NY Anwho, guy at my marina registered his new boat in NH and didn't pay any sales tax, said the state of NH send the yearly registration right to his door in NY....

NY is also cracking down on the old it was broken and I bought it cheap song, I sold an explorer to a guy here at work, he even claimed exatly what I sold it to him for and NY made him pay tax on over 1,000 more...

How would I find out about incorporating in Deleware?
hmk

Don't fool yourself. If your boat is registered in Deleware, yet found by the tax police in your state in which you reside, you'll need to pay the tax...and penilites.

That's a real old scam that they caught onto years ago.

If it say Deleware on the transom, or a deleware decal, your a target for the tax man.