Bought a Boat in Paradise

[Staci]

I bought my first boat while living here in Barbados. I plan to sail it back through the Gulf of Mexico to my home port of Mobile. I was wondering what steps need to be taken for US officials to be happy with the transaction. Do I need to registrer it in Alabama? HELP!!

 

[sv Makai]

Bringing a boat in the US

We had Makai built in Durban SA and delivered on its bottom. We had the documentation completed before it entered US waters, used a service. After Makai entered the US we had to pay import duties, (in our case) MD 5% use tax, and then we we required to get local registration ($25/yr).I would go to the ALabama DNR (online or call) and look up boat registration requirements. MD was pretty clear, though importing wasn't hard just a lot of hoops to jump.If your new boat is already US flagged it will save a lot of work on the importation, just be sure that the duties were paid by the previous owner or you will owe them when the boat is brought into the US. You can document a boat, never bring it into the US and delay paying the duties.

 

[ED]

IMPORT DUTY

If the boat is a used one, I was told by US customs that there was no import duty to be paid. I was thinking of buying in Canada several years ago. If I had gone ahead with the purchase, I would have called, or better yet written to verify.