Buying a Boat in the US

Tigs said:

I'm Canadian and I'm planning on buying a used boat in the US. The boat will remain in the US. I'm guessing I need to register and pay taxes on it. The boat will be on Lake Champlain between the states of Vermont and New York. Can I chose where to register and pay the sale taxes? thanks in advance for any advice to my American cousins.

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If you do end up buying a boat in the US you can save a lot of money by using Knightsbridge FX or similar Forgein Exchange busineses to purchase and transfer US funds to the vendor. i recently saved about $700.00 on $170,000 USD compared to the best bank rates.

stanfromhell said:

If you do end up buying a boat in the US you can save a lot of money by using Knightsbridge FX or similar Forgein Exchange busineses to purchase and transfer US funds to the vendor. i recently saved about $700.00 on $170,000 USD compared to the best bank rates.

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Thanks Stan; That's good to know. It's criminal what banks charge for foreign transactions both coming and going.

All very interesting. I am no expert but let me give you my 2 cents worth. I am a Canadian and have bought and sold 3 boats in Florida and they have never been north of Florida. At the time of purchase the state of Florida allowed me no sales taxes if I took the boat out of the state within 90 days and could prove it - ( gas receipt, dockage receipt, etc). All of the boats were registered in Canada since I had no permanent US address. Twenty five years have passed and no problems.

Hi Mike Lowthian; Thanks for this great info albeit my situation is a little different. I've a dual citizenship; Canada and US, my plan is to buy and register a boat in the US then sail and dock the boat on Lake Erie's north shore as a summer residence, with the goal to avoid the 13% Ontario tax. My full time residence and business is currently in AZ but this could change in the future. Trying to get the legalities of this plan, even looked at winter storage on the south shore of Lake Erie.