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Old 12-21-2015, 06:16 PM   #8
Roger Long
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City: Albany, NY
Vessel Name: Gypsy Star
Vessel Model: Gulf Star 43
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 451
Quote:
Originally Posted by WesK View Post

This means that you cannot technically operate your documented boat in FL because it has no state registration.
This is my understanding, unless you accept the interpretation that SC has made Federal Documentation a de facto form of state registration.

My specific question is really whether FL FWC officer are keeping an eye out for SC and ME vessels and subjecting them to special scrutiny. This was the case for a while in Maine where tax officers discovered they could get out of their cubicles and eat taxpayer funded lobster rolls while taking pictures of boats with RI in the hailing port. They would then look them up in the documented vessels database and send out letters saying that use tax had to be paid on the boat unless the owner could produce receipts showing where the boat had been for the entire period of current ownership up to ten years. This wasn't in the laws or regulations and was clearly an attempt to panic people into paying taxes they didn't owe. They tried the same thing with airplanes and it led to a boycott by AOPA. They also tried it with foreign vessels and chased enough international mega yachts out of the state that there were substantial marina layoffs.

We're only planning to visit FL for periods of less than 90 days. I don't expect any problems but would like to know if anyone has heard of any.
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