Thread: Duty free Fuel
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Old 01-17-2019, 12:50 PM   #14
yachtbrokerguy
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City: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Vessel Model: I have keys to lots of boats...
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 438
Boats flagged in some countries cannot get a "CRUISING LICENSE" which means that they must clear with customs in each and every port they visit. To go from Fort Lauderdale to Miami a distance of 30 miles, you must clear out of Fort Lauderdale and clear into Miami.
Here is a maybe outdated list of reciprocal countries I got from the web. Boats flagged in these countries can get a CRUING LICENSE
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahama Islands
Belgium
Bermuda
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany, Federal Republic of
Greece
Honduras
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Liberia
Marshall Islands
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom and the Dependencies: the Anguilla Islands, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands

Panama is not on this list. It is expensive to flag a boat purchased in the US in a foreign country, and to maintain the yearly cost of registration, so it may be less expensive to pay sales /use tax in some state. Many vessels using a CRUISING LICENSE must leave the US to renew the cruising license each year, which is fine if you keep the boat near a foreign country like Canada, Mexico or Bahamas, but difficult if you are a long way from those countries.

When purchasing a US boat that will become foreign flagged the closing can be more that 3 miles offshore but less than 12 miles, and the state tax does not have to be paid, instead you pay to register in a foreign country and then get a cruising license.
There is a lot to understand about how and where the boat will be used to how it may be registered. A US documentation agent and or a customs broker may help with specific questions.
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