Another Documentation Question

[Bad Obsession]

I am considering the possibility of Documenting the next boat that I buy. If I document the boat, will I need to register it with my home state, Virginia?There is so much information out there on Documentation that it gets confusing. I would like to hear from anyone who has been through documentation and has a Virginia Hailing Port, if possible.Thanks for the information!Oh, btw....there won't be a boat loan on my boat so I won't be required to go through documentation. I would rather do documentation than state registration but I don't want to do both!

 

[SV Rocinante]

documentation and state registration...

Yes, your "home" state still requires that you register your vessel... but you won't need to display the registration numbers on your hull."home" becomes the big variable... different states have different rules for registering your boat... e.g. if you spend more than a specified amount of time in their waters, then you must register with said state... even if you don't live there.For example, mine is documented, I keep it in NY, but it's registered in NJ (I live in NJ)Hope this helps...Carlos

 

[Paul]

Sailboat registration

Do some more research. We bought our boat for cash (34') in December and got it federally documented. We were told by the broker that boats over a certain size did not require state registration if you federally document it. The broker gave us all the necessary paperwork and it cost us about $97.00. Google for sailboat registration requirements and that should answer alot of questions.

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Sorry, you still gotta do both, I think.....

Our boat is documented with CG, and registered with Washington state. No big number on the side, but still have to have a little square state sticker though. Can't say the rule for your state, but I know our state.Our document number is on the inside of the hull under a thick layer of epoxy, in 2 different places, one hidden, and I mean really hidden.There is one-time initial cost for CG, then free from then on. with state you pay every year.IMHO, The CG and state are for two different purposes. One is for ownership, and the other is really for taxes.

 

[Tim R.]

Depends on the state

In Maine you only have to pay the excise tax which is about $100 per year. No state reg. required if you document with USCG.Tim R.

 

[Paul Akers]

In Rhode Island...

...documented boats don't need to be "registered" as a regular boat would be. That is a sticker with a registration number affixed to the hull. But they do require a "Documentation Registration" that must be paid (fixed price) and is good for 2 years. Only a sticker (no numbers) is issued that must be placed on the hull.Keep in mind that the documentation is only a "one time payment". Hence your state may still require it so as to try to get it's yearly fee this way.

 

[Cathy,]

In Virginia...

I just looked into this since we just bought our Pearson 31. In VIRGINIA you cannot register or title a USCG documented boat. You will still have to register your dinghy if you have an outboard on it.

 

[Bill Roosa]

They just want their pound of flesh

Maryland just wants you to pay the sales (sails)tax or if you don't buy the boat in Maryland, they want a regrestration tax (same amount).Also if you have a tender, not a dinggy, but a (knock, knock, knock) craft used for transfering from the primay vessel to/from the shore, you can call it by your vessels name plus a 2 (or II) and get it under the same federal regrestration. You don't even need to let the feds know, it comes as benefit of the regrestration.Once regestered, your vessel is legally a living entity with rights and previlages that can help or hurt you depending on the situation. Sooooo do your research.

 

[Tim McCarty]

When we purchased our boat a year ago...

We specifically chose against documenting our boat. We are registered with the State of Michigan though (registration v. documentation). Why? Crazy as it may sound...in time of war, we don't want to deal with the possiblity that our boat could be siezed and used by the military (not sure what they could do with a 31 foot sailboat...other than take R&R breaks on it). We don't even want to deal with ANY future implications that documenting might cause.

 

[draks]

VA documentation

Bad,You can choose either federal documentation or state registration for your VA boat. I chose documentation so I wouldn't have those registration numbers on the bow.Fair winds,SteveS/V Aurelia

 

[NYSail]

NY

I just bought a boat in NY and was required by the bank to have the vesel documented. However I had to register the boat with NY as well....a two year sticker.GregP36-2Mt. Sinai, NY

 

[Andy]

Tim R.

I'm looking at the '05 Maine boating laws ('06 is not out yet, but '05 continues the same as previous years). As you have said, the laws say: "All watercraft, including documented vessels are subject to an annual excise tax..." -- with exceptions. Excepted are "A watercraft less than 20 feet that does not use any type of motor power." But the laws also say that all motorboats (= boat with motor) of any size must be registered -- with exceptions. The exceptions include "Watercraft REQUIRED [my emphasis] to have a ... document." Commercial fishing boats are required to be documented, but recreational boats are not. Am I missing something?

 

[patrick]

Don't know Virginia laws

but in Washington we have revenue agents who regularly walk the docks and make note of which boats are there and their registration. They will find out if you have not paid the state and you will pay then. There are also parks people who do the same thing if you anchor or moor in a state park.A friend of mine stayed for an afternoon in a state park nearby recently. He took the afternoon to read his mail and threw away some of the ads from his mail into the park garbage can. The ads had his address and the state sent him a hundred dollar fine for putting the wrong garbage in the can.

 

[Ross]

Awww! The man can afford a boat

but objects to the state tax. I have a soothing attitude about my state, local and federal taxes. All of the money that I pay for taxes is used to maintain a bridge between my house and my boat and that makes it a real bargain. Without the bridge I couldn't get to my boat.Quote:"for now, I am just going to state register it and give the Commonwealth more blood money out of my hard-earned paycheck!"

 

[Doghouse]

VA Documentation: Just did it.

I just went through all of this...1. You cannot by law document and register the boat in VA. You must do one or the other only. 2. The seller is supposed to inform the state that they sold their boat to you. You should then receive the card asking where it is. Depending on where it is depends on where it is taxed. (Hampton, VA has .0001 cents per 1000 mill rate I may be off by a 0 but it is close)3. If you have an USCG inspection sticker and a documented vessel, VDGIF cannot board your vessel. (Yes it is in their laws. They can detain you for the Coast Guard but they cannot themselves board you.)Documentation affords you and your mortgage company additional rights and responsibilities. I highly recommend it.

 

[chuckwayne]

Maine Laws

Andy,you're not missing anything-since your boat does not require documentation, you are on the hook for the excise tax, and Maine will find you-the state gets the list of Maine documented boats from the USCG and compares it to the excise tax rolls

 

[Bad Obsession]

Hey Ross

FYI...I work for local government and I have worked for state government. The red-tape buricratic systems are pretty bad. We pay taxes on everything from when you buy the boat, to everything that you buy for the boat (gas, some slip fees, bottom paint, and the list goes on and on). The government spends money pretty inefficiently and it has surplusses in other areas that it doesn't tap to add to the areas that have shortages. A good example of this is the literacy fund. Every dollar that the state gets from Uniform Traffic Summonses goes to it....The average State Trooper writes 1,200 summonses a year. The average cost for the summonses are about $50 (mind you that I am not including the $250 or more that is paid from a first offense DUI, etc). Do the math and you will see that this is one FAT fund. It has always been that way. They could take the access of that money and fund the roadway projects and lower the fuel tax or the sales tax. I feel that everyone who fusses about paying some of the expensive taxes that are out there have a valid point. If things were handled more efficiently we wouldn't have to pay some of these pointless taxes!

 

[Ross]

Dear Bad, Does this mean

that your payroll is a part of the bureaucratic expense that our taxes most pay? If you haven't completely lost your sense of humor you know that government waste is pervasive. Therefore in order to avoid becoming a threat to myself and the government I choose to pay my taxes and think of the positive good the money does. what they choose to spent your tax dollars for is your concern.

 

[Bad Obsession]

It is sad

It is just sad to see all of the wastes that government has. If normal business owners ran their businesses like government, there wouldn't be any businesses. Here is a great example of government doing strange things. The locality that I am working for is going to purchase a new facility for one of its departments. They have hired a private consultant for quite an expense. When they get the price tag from the consultant for ten million the counsel bulks. They say that is too expensive. In their great wisdom, they decide to pass the project up for a year. The locality grows insanely fast and land is quickly devoured up. They look at the project two years later and it has doubled in cost.Another example is that they decided to put off putting a bypass in the locality until all of the funding is there. This is all the funding that would be obtained from all of the new growth..... Now they are complaining about all of the traffic back-ups and the growth and the funding is only 1/2 way to what it will be. If they were more efficient....then we wouldn't have to be paying so much. That is all I am complaining about.

 

[Bob Todd]

Here's the link you need...

It's to the NVDC. You can even call them and speak to a person. They're very helpful and will make documentation painless.While folks may offer good advice, one mistake could cause you to start all over again.Follow the NVDCs process from start to finish and call them with questions.Cheers,Bob