Maine Use Tax heads up.

RichH · Jun 29, 2010

Can see it now ..... 60% of the boats docked/moored in Maine will be moving to New Hampshire.
I recommend that you 'maniacs' vote OUT all the incumbents in your legislature and put in REAL people who have brains and no connection to the 'special interests' who demand all the 'entitlements' that all the taxpayers have to increasingly fork-up. In all probability, those 'special interests' will be excluded from the 5% law - bet the farm on that one.

Steve Dion · Jun 29, 2010

Rich: Don't worry, once the Feds. hear about this they will be jumping on the Tax Wagon too. No one will be safe.

Ross · Jun 29, 2010

Harrisburg, PA is on the verge of defaulting on a large bond obligation because of short revenues. The municipalities will be looking for money any place they think they can find it.

kloudie1 · Jun 29, 2010

Too bad.. We just had a small "fee grab"" here in Louisiana too. Must be something going around ! The new law's title is "Changes in the definition of a motorboat" .. I didn't pay attention at all.. but what it did was to clump documented vessels in with fishing boats and stuff .. the result is that we have to get state registration stickers and if the boat is newer than 10 years, the state sales tax will be collected when the boat is registered.. In the past, sales tax on used boats was not collected. There may still be loop holes in the definition when the transaction is between "private parties" (no broker takes possession).. The dollars go directly to the state Wildlife and Fisheries Dept so I feel OK with it.. but the method that they used left a really bad taste in my mouth.
The budget crunch brought this on, and the word got to a lot of states through some knid of legislative news media ?? Buggers !
Turns out that there is no provision to enforce the Louisiana State law.. yet.. so a lot of people are simply ignoring it..

BobM · Jun 29, 2010

Let's analyze a typical day just for fun

So...say I am heading out for a sail...here is my tax analysis of my day.

$24.55 for a nights rest in my own home in taxes to the town (my town is ridiculous)
$0.30 tax on my $5 breakfast
$1.03 worth of excise tax on the truck per day to the state
$4.00 in tolls to get to the city
$0.75 tax on the 1.8 gallons of gas my truck burns for the 45 mile drive (41.9 cents/gallon)
$18.33 for my water way fee ($275/yr/15 trips this year approximate)
$5 for excise tax on my boat ($75/yr/15 trips)
$0.42 tax on a beer and cheeseburger at the club
$0.75 tax on the 1.8 gallons of gas my truck burns for the 45 mile drive home (41.9 cents/gallon)
$4.00 in tolls to get home

Total is $59.13...plus I had to pay with after tax dollars! So I had to earn ~$88.25 to pay those taxes and fees.

RichH · Jun 29, 2010

Steve Dion said:
Rich: Don't worry, once the Feds. hear about this they will be jumping on the Tax Wagon too. No one will be safe.

but but but .... they did do that in the 1990s with the Ted Kennedy "Boat Luxury Tax" ... which caused most USA boat manufacturers to go into bankruptcy and which caused the loss of nearly 40,000 USA 'boat building' jobs. .... made Beneteau, etc. VERY happy. But you're probably right that boatowners are the still targeted as 'idle rich' that can pay more of their fair share and thus need to 'pay up' .... Big Sigh.

In all actuality, "this is the END of the Age of Prosperity" ... as the 'special interest groups' are in VERY firm monetary control of our legislators. Who else pays for the reelection campaigns?

BobM · Jun 29, 2010

Thank God for fiberglass...if they hadn't developed it I bet more than half of us wouldn't have a boat as those that we can afford are relatively inexpensive thirty year old sailboats. I my boat was wood I don't think I could maintain it on my budget and sailing as a hobby for the non-rich might never have made it off the launch pad in the first place.

RichH · Jun 29, 2010

Ross said:
Harrisburg, PA is on the verge of defaulting on a large bond obligation because of short revenues. The municipalities will be looking for money any place they think they can find it.

Pennsylvania is close to default on the 'UNFUNDED' whopping pension funding promises to unionized govt. workers and teachers... and were talking mega-BILLIONS here. In a state where the per capita income is $50K/annum and when a simple teacher can get a guaranteed retirement income of ~$4-5 million, retire at 55 y/o ... its well beyond time to 'cut loose' & 'recalibrate'.
New Jersey, Kali-fornia, Illinois, New Yawk are in WORSE shape. Dont expect the 'special interests' to pick up the slack ... its going to be John Q. Public that pays these bills.
Soon, time to build some guillotines.

dscribner · Jun 29, 2010

Careful! You might make it on the "No Fly" list of the Motherland . . oops! I mean "homeland" security comrades!

Maine Sail · Jun 29, 2010

While I am in 150% agreement with the sentiments above please keep this thread from being moved to the "Sails Call Lounge" by keeping to the topic at hand, boat use taxes, and trying to stay out of the political gutter..

Steve Dion · Jun 29, 2010

Rich: I really think that the American public is already getting sick and tired of this spend, spend, spend attitude. The real problem lies in the fact that the PAY back part of the equation has not kicked in yet. Once everyone figures out that there is really no way out of this without the middle class and even the "poor" kicking in some money, they are going to be out raged.

This is not a political statement. The dems & the republicans are equally to blame. The states are in terrible state (I live in the state with the highest unemployment in the nation - Nevada) of the economy. Until they put folks back to work we are screwed. The forecast is that within 10 - 12 years we will be doing the same thing that Europe is doing for Greece, Spain ...... We will soon reach the point that we cannot tax people enough to support our own economy.

Calif. Ted · Jun 29, 2010

pension funding promises to unionized govt. workers and teachers...

I'd be be emotionally upset by remarks like this if I wasn't so busy spending my outrageous govt. pension on yachts and such.

Mike1956 · Jun 29, 2010

Pennsylvania collects sales tax each and every time a boat, or automobile is sold, even though the sales tax was paid on the original purchase. Furthermore, Allegheny county charges an extra 1% on their sales tax. There are a lot of people who won't purchase a car in their own county to save the extra 1 %.

Gail R · Jun 29, 2010

Mike1956 said:
Pennsylvania collects sales tax each and every time a boat, or automobile is sold, even though the sales tax was paid on the original purchase. Furthermore, Allegheny county charges an extra 1% on their sales tax. There are a lot of people who won't purchase a car in their own county to save the extra 1 %.

Maine does the same thing... which is why many private bills of sale indicate a price of "$1 and other considerations."

Problem is there are actually people working in Augusta who review these things once in a while, and will start making harrassing phone calls to buyers and sellers if they see a sale price that doesn't look right to them.

Maine Sail · Jun 29, 2010

Gail R said:
Maine does the same thing... which is why many private bills of sale indicate a price of "$1 and other considerations."

Problem is there are actually people working in Augusta who review these things once in a while, and will start making harrassing phone calls to buyers and sellers if they see a sale price that doesn't look right to them.

Last year I got a letter from the Maine IRS saying I owned a very large sum of money for not paying the sales tax on our 2005 Catalina which we no longer even owned. With penalties and interest they were looking for over 11k. Funny thing was I had paid the sales tax and kept my receipt and canceled check. The IRS office in Augusta also had all this information but theclown who sent the letter was at a satellite IRS office somewhere in the County.

I mailed them all the documentation and never even got so much as an apology for the rather threatening letter and the rude tone on the phone when I called the office and explained I had all the documentation to prove I'd paid it. Oh and no offer to reimburse me for the the next day air charges I needed to pay and they required to stop penalties and interest ASAP, if my documentation was not correct....

The whole thing seemed like a good old shake down. I am certain they found a few folks who no longer had their documentation. Trust me I second guessed myself while in a panic digging through old file boxes...

Any letter from the IRS is a SCARY one, even when you KNOW you're right......

jibes138 · Jun 29, 2010

IN order to keep this thread out of the political gutter and having it moved I would strongly urge all readers to immediately run for public office and help fix a broken system. We can all complaign or we can hitch up our trousers and truck on down to city hall and take out papers declaring our elections campaigns. When the incumbants see how much competition they have they will freak out. This is our country and only we can fix it. Don't be looking for someone else to do it for you, you don't expect others to wax your boat so why expect others to run your affairs. By the people for the people. Time to get in the game.

Rick486 · Jun 30, 2010

Roger Long said:
If you have a recently (two years for mine) documented vessel with a hailing port or owner's address in Maine, you will probably receive a letter soon asking you to send the state either 5% of the cost of the boat or a bunch of paperwork. Evidently they are not bothering to check the USCG database with previous state registrations or coordinating with Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

I don't expect to hear from them again after sending back a thick envelope but you have to respond in 30 days so you may want to make sure you have the necessary stuff at hand and someone to send it back if you are going to be away for a while.

If you have a documented vessel in Maine and didn't pay sales tax in the state where you bought it or in Maine, this is probably a good time to think about that dream of moving aboard and sailing to the Bahamas.

Any east coast sailors contemplating a cruise to Maine this year need to be aware that the revenue folks are making the rounds of marinas and boatyards looking for out of state boats allegedly in Maine for 30 days or more. They then accuse them of owing the 5% use tax. The accusation comes in the form of a very threatening letter with the apparent weight of government behind it threatening to slap a lien on your boat unless you respond with a pile of personal information describing where the bpat was purchased, insurance, etc. This letter accuses the recipient of owing the use tax and/or sales tax. This is guilty until proven innocent. Even if you happen to be in the state for a week with your boat, doesn't matter. You must at a minimum respond, and somehow prove you were there only a week. The Marine Trade Association is up in arms over this as it is suppressing tourism and refit business from out of state boats. Recommend staying away from maine for the forseeable future. Two friends of mine from Connecticut have been going back and forth with them since last winter. Once they have you they do not let go.