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From: Rick H Kennerly (no email)
Date: Mon Aug 05 2002 - 18:19:12 EDT
You're information is incomplete. This topic is thoroughly documented in
the archives. It's damn difficult to find a coastal state other than Del
that doesn't charge an excise tax on the cost of a boat--just like it's
nearly impossible to find a state (except Delaware) that doesn't charge
either sales or excise tax on a vehicle. Besides, in every state that
charges an excise tax on boats that this list could document, you're not
charged an additional excise tax if you've already paid it somewhere else
but rather the difference between what you paid and what that state
collects, if that amount is greater (no refunds going the other way,
however). And even that tax doesn't kick in until after you've been in MD
waters some six months or so in a 12 month period. In other words, once
you've taken up residence (which is a different legal question from legal
domicile--also well discussed in the archives).
Besides, by my lights you picked a pretty poor example. We cruised 5 years
out of Annapolis and thought that, FWIW, you get quite a lot for your tax
money in MD waters compared to almost anywhere else we've been on the east
coast from Maine to Florida and down to Puerto Rico. State funded
crabpot-free marked and enforced zones in and out of nearly every creek &
river, superior state maintained supplemental aids to navigation, ample
pumpouts, dinghy docks, and garbage disposal ashore, pretty rigid water
quality enforcement, & very good environmental enforcement, etc--all the
things that, personally, I sail for in the first place and that keep MD from
being like Northern VA. All in all, the boating quality of life in MD is
superior and they spend the bucks to make it so, but the money has to come
from somewhere.
Besides, with VA and Delaware so close, you'd have to be a pretty poor
cruiser not to be able to devise a way to dodge the tax issue in MD. OTOH,
if your complaint is that you're really only a wannabe cruiser who's
actually a freeloading resident of MD, you'll get no sympathy from me. Pick
a state that offers the services you're willing to pay for.
Remember the old, "No problem, Mon" bumperstickers? Now they're "Plenty
of Problem, Mon" bumperstickers. Trip on down to the islands and see what
having no tax base for QOL issues or effective government has done to these
cruising grounds.
Rick Kennerly, NH2F
Rick the Mouseherder
Xapic, Westsail 32
Cabo San Juan, Puerto Rico
www.mouseherder.com/xapic
www.westsail.org
|o| How about this:
|o|
|o| You buy your boat in Delaware (or Oregon or anywhere there is
|o| no sales tax)
|o| and you live aboard and cruise full time. Legal so far.
|o|
|o| Say you spend a couple months on the Chesapeake Bay and
|o| Maryland decides to
|o| charge you 5% of the value of your boat for the privilege. That
|o| IS current
|o| MD law (unless you can prove you spent more calendar time in
|o| another state
|o| AND you paid that state 5% tax). Fair?
|o|
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