ive heard there are ways of not paying the property tax on boats.anyone found a way without registering it in another state?

I would think if you purchased out of state then USCG document and not keep your boat in a marina or dry storage you might be able to avoid PP Tax. In NC each marina and or storage facility must submit an inventory and list of owners and that's how the county catches those that didn't register or pay PP tax.

You forgot to say: "...asking for a friend."

Ask Donald. He is the foremost expert on the tax code.

Depends on what county you are in, Stafford has eliminated the pp tax on boats. Prince William has not had it for a long time (RVs too).

Just to keep this in perspective........How much is the tax you are trying to avoid?


I know a guy that registered his Viking sportfish in SC for $300 and avoided about $60,000 in Florida sales tax. Florida has since reworked their sales tax so you only pay 6% on the first 300K of the purchase (max sales tax is $18,000).

The tax is a county thing and as stated some counties have reduced/eliminated it but nearly every county requires storage facilities to provide inventory lists. Years ago I had expensive boats and opened a Delaware LLC that cost alot less than the PP tax in my county. I've also listed a boat in a locality that wasn't where the boat was actually stored since their tax rate was much less than mine. The boat I have today is fairly cheap so it's listed at my home address (where it stays in a garage).

Lynchburg lists a $3.80/hundred tax rate and if they claim your boat is worth $35K then the tax would be $1,330. A DL corp was about $300/yr awhile back. (That boat had DL numbers instead of VA numbers)......you could claim the boat is in Stafford???

Let me get this straight.

In some US States and some counties in those states, you have to pay Property Tax on a "vehicle" which is what a boat and trailer are. Really? Wow, I thought we paid a ton of tax up here in Ontario but at least we only pay it once on the purchase price of the vehicle you are registering.

Thats a crazy system you guys have down there for sure.

If you think that's bad try living in California and having a boat, documented or otherwise. The state comes after you, doesn't matter what county you're in. The board of equalization wants use tax unless you paid sales tax where ever you purchased the boat. If you can't prove you paid tax they just send you a bill. Then every year you get a unsecured property tax bill to boot. It's up to you to prove your boat isn't in the state if you want to get around the property tax bill. You also have to prove you didn't bring the boat into California if you don't want to pay the use tax to them. Can't be in California over a certain percentage of the calendar year to avoid tax, unless it's in a shop for repairs. Burden of proof is on you, guilty till proven innocent. And if you think you're going to document it and use another hailing port out of California to get around the tax it won't work if your mailing address or drivers license that you use on the coast guard paperwork is California. The coast guard sends that info to the state of California and they automatically send you a bill. They just assume the boat is here and you have to prove that it's not. It gets sticky, every state has laws about this stuff. Same goes for RV's and aircraft here.

Yep

Had a new buddy that I met in Florida after he had moved from Virginia. He had a bunch of cool toys and he got to talking about all the personal property taxes he had to pay on them in Virginia.

I was floored, what is soo great about Virginia that they tax you every year on your toys.

Than again I have been back in the great state of Michigan and hear what people are paying for their house taxes, about 4 times the rate that I pay in Florida.