Alaskan Sea-Duction
Guru
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2012
- Messages
- 8,062
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Alaskan Sea-Duction
- Vessel Make
- 1988 M/Y Camargue YachtFisher
I think Florida caps the sales tax at $18,000. Seems to me this is a weekend bar bill on some of these rigs.
There is no secret agenda behind this bill. It will bring more work and money into the state. Mostly in South Florida I would think.
As I understand it, the law currently exempts the owner of a foreign-flagged vessel from paying import duty when the boat is brought into the US, if the boat is used purely for recreation and no commercial purposes. The owner has only to get a cruising permit.
However, the instant the boat is to be used for a commercial purpose, it must be imported and the duty paid. Offering the boat for sale is considered a commercial purpose, so the owner of a foreign-flagged boat, wishing to try to sell it in the US, must import it and pay the duty, even if the boat never sells.
This new law would defer paying the duty until such time as the boat actually sells, thus allowing the owner to try to sell the boat in the US without having to pay the duty first.
But these boats are advertised and sold to US citizens all the time. They just take delivery off shore and no import duty is due as long as you continue to flag is off shore and visit the US on a cruising permit. If someone wants to US flag the boat, they they will have to import it and pay duty. So it seems that both with and without the new law, a US buyer who wants to foreign flag doesn't pay duty, and one who wants to US flag pays duty.
I don't see how the costs are any different, and I certainly don't see how it enhances or motivates Florida business.