Listen up Canadians! Canada Proposes new tax for boaters!

[grahamdouglass]

This is a question for you sea lawyers out there. If upon selling the boat, and after a time you notice that the boat has not changed ownership on the ship registry website can the previous owner and still the registered owner seize the boat till it is properly registered or sell it at auction to cover costs if it is involved in an environmental spill?

Or as part of the sell can you refuse to hand it over physically even if all the money has been paid till the boat is registered. Can you hold the broker liable if they don't ensure the boat is registered?

 

[twistedtree]

Unless there is some specific law in Canada to the contrary, ownership changes hands with a bill of sale or signing a title, and passing funds. After that, it's the other guy's boat and the other guy's liability. Failure to tell the Gov about the sale so their records can be updated is more a problem for the buyer since that's another reflection of his/her ownership. Most people need to prove they own something, not prove they don't own it. I have to believe that it's a corner case where the boat ends up dumped and authorities come looking for you thinking the boat is still yours. Just keep the documentation showing it was sold, and to whom. The boat is not your problem at that point.


I think the same possibility exists in the US. You could sell a boat, either CG documented or titled in a state, and the buyer could never follow through to re-document or title the boat. Records would still show you owning it, but you don't. Ownership transferred when money and papers chanced hands.


I think the lesson here is to be sure to preserve important records like bills of sale, in this case when you sell something that is a potential liability.

 

[SteveK]

Unless there is some specific law in Canada to the contrary, ownership changes hands with a bill of sale or signing a title, and passing funds. After that, it's the other guy's boat and the other guy's liability. Failure to tell the Gov about the sale so their records can be updated is more a problem for the buyer since that's another reflection of his/her ownership. Most people need to prove they own something, not prove they don't own it. I have to believe that it's a corner case where the boat ends up dumped and authorities come looking for you thinking the boat is still yours. Just keep the documentation showing it was sold, and to whom. The boat is not your problem at that point.


I think the same possibility exists in the US. You could sell a boat, either CG documented or titled in a state, and the buyer could never follow through to re-document or title the boat. Records would still show you owning it, but you don't. Ownership transferred when money and papers chanced hands.


I think the lesson here is to be sure to preserve important records like bills of sale, in this case when you sell something that is a potential liability.

Preserve records to prove you sold a boat 10 years ago. OK, your document keeping is better than mine. Why should I have to prove I sold it when as suggested the seller fills out a form and sends gov the new owner upon a sale, end of story, no longer my problem.

P.S. I just filled out a bill of sale for my boat, should I ever decide to abandon it I will have proof I sold it to John Smith of no fixed address. That works too.

 

[Cartouche]

For recreational boats the proposal is to charge a licence fee of $10 every 5 years. Currently there is no charge for licencing or any kind of use tax on rec boats.

I can live with that.

I certainly can live with that We are in Kingston at the beginning of the Rideau in the Inner harbor and there are now 6 Derelict boats with squatters living on them when the winds blow they drag and 2 are now in the Navigation channel and will probably be blown on shore by the spring. Somebody has to remove these vessels so I agree if we all pay a little then we all can enjoy the waterways.

 

[backinblue]

Firstly I can't believe $10 every 5 years even covers the cost of administration for this fee, let alone makes a meaningful difference in the waterways. Eveyone in society should bear this cost like every other service such as education and public works. Charging boaters only, is just a way for the govt to increase taxes in a way that most people won't complain. Once enacted it will never go away and likely go up. $10 in 5 years could just be a way to get it on the books. Then guess what? They find out to cover the true cost of removing these boats, requires a fee of $100/year to boaters.

Reminds me of a friend that is single and complained that the bulk of his local taxes goes to education, but he has no children so why should he have to pay for someone else's kids? I tried to rationalize that it's the cost of living in a society. We all share the costs of services whether we use them or not in order to enjoy a certain quality of life. What's next? If your house burns down you get a bill from the fire dept?

 

[ancora]

Just another example of the responsible being made responsible for the irresponsible.

 

[koliver]

Also, there was a nice lady that looked after the vessel registry in Vancouver. I remember talking to her in 2002 when I was looking to buy a vessel. She was very personable, very hands on and knew everything and any thing about registered vessels. She talked to me about a vessel I was thinking of buying. I forgot her name but she was well known in the marine community. By the time I bought my vessel in 2007 she had retired and now everything is handled on line from Ottawa. When you call them or email them they say they will get back to you in 3 to 5 days.

I remember her! She was there when the Ship Registry was in the basement of the Marine Building and the actual titles were there in books about 4 ft wide. I can't recall her name, but she knew everything about the process and about the boats in the Registration books. AND, she was always there, and always had time for you! No 2 hrs waiting on the phone in those days.
Changing over to a computerised system must have hurt.

 

[C lectric]

It's nice to hear about people like that. Learn what is needed +++, take care to do the job properly and with good cheer.