Washington state - boat tax and temporary use permits

JDCAVE said:

It cost me 9.5% duty plus 12% combined GST and PST on top of that to bring my KK42 to country. That's 23% total in duty and taxes. The 9.5% duty is on boats not made in North America. We wouldn't pay the 9.5% duty on an Nordic Tug, for example.

Yes. It hurts, but with the decline in the Cdn $ against the US$, The boat is now worth more than in Cdn $ than 2.5 years ago.


Jim
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Yes, and to think how many people flag their boats offshore to avoid the 1.5% US duty.

Nordhavn sales are getting a nice exchange boost right now too from the strong US $.

Now, outside North America, are there any other countries that have different sets of laws for every state or province? My European counterparts when I was working were amazed to find there were 50 different sets of tax laws in one country. I know Canada isn't as bad, but there are enough small differences between provinces just to confuse people from what I've seen.

Actually in Canada there are some pretty big differences. Sales tax is a combination of the federal 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) and provincial sales tax. Provincial sale tax ranges from 0% in Alberta, Yukon, Nunavut and the NWT to as high as 10%. So total sales tax ranges from 5% to 15%. That isn't too bad compared to the 90s. When I lived in New Brunswick then the GST was 7% and the provincial sales tax (PST) was 11% plus you paid PST on the cost plus GST bringing the total to 18.77%.

BandB said:

Yes, and to think how many people flag their boats offshore to avoid the 1.5% US duty.

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A quick reminder for all non-US flagged vessels:

Also, carefully check the pilotage regulations in Washington and Alaska. The local pilot boards have their traps well set and baited to catch the foreign flags in their costly excemption schemes!

BC is no problem in this regard, as they have a very sensible loa-based regulation, supporting their local marine trades.

that`s a lot of reading! i`m a lifetime resident of washington, on the last 3 boats we bought, it`s called 2 ft itis, there are ways to cut the yearly tax debt, etc..a friend i respect, said we only need to pay taxes on the steering system, engine, etc, all the rest of the equipment can be taken off the price/value of the boat, at list prices, plus installation costs, etc! ie, genset, sinks, etc, etc...i once asked a sales person, if i could pay him $5000 cash, then deal with the owner? the answer was yes! [if we bought the boat] there`s another way to cut costs, but i`ll not describe it here! the yearly tax for a boat moored in wash state is 1/2 of 1%, or 0.5%, which goes down a little yearly...clyde

Washington is all about taxing, with no regard to the potential of how it may affect business or pleasure. Its all about the money here. I will say this however. At least we don't have an income tax on top of our sales and use taxes. But that may not last forever as each more liberal bunch of idiots we elect here continues, they all try to figure out a way to get that income tax in place. I got surprised recently when putting my newly acquired boat in the Skagit Co. LaConner Marina, when I got the first bill there is a whopping $60 dollar per MONTH lease tax fee!! I asked for clarification from the Marina and the state. Both were very nice and said basically it is what it is, cough it up. There are ways to lessen the pain but none applied to me. Oh yes, WA loves its taxes!