California Luxury Tax

[socalmofo]

I have heard that if you register your new boat in Arizona you can avoid the luxury tax. If I live in California and have no address in Arizona other than a friends house or a po box can this still be done?
I also heard you have to have it there for 6 months. The boat would be there about 8-10 months out of the year but will be brought back ocassionally
Anybody know what the luxury tax would be on a 55k new boat?
Thanks!

[RUCAV]

I did that for 1 year before I bought a place out there with no problems. No one from the county ever asked if I had a boat and where I kept it.
I think its 1%. not sure though

[Burley1]

Well I just went thru this crap and I couldn't register my boat in AZ except as a non resident. Now I even own a house in Havasu but because I don't have an AZ dl they said no and I can tell you that it was cheaper for me to register in Cali and pay the tax than register in az as a non resident

[Sean@magic]

I have heard that if you register your new boat in Arizona you can avoid the luxury tax. If I live in California and have no address in Arizona other than a friends house or a po box can this still be done?
I also heard you have to have it there for 6 months. The boat would be there about 8-10 months out of the year but will be brought back ocassionally
Anybody know what the luxury tax would be on a 55k new boat?
Thanks!
You can register the new boat to your friends house with no problems. Alot of times there is one house with 6 boats registered to that address.

[JB in so cal]

Well I just went thru this crap and I couldn't register my boat in AZ except as a non resident. Now I even own a house in Havasu but because I don't have an AZ dl they said no and I can tell you that it was cheaper for me to register in Cali and pay the tax than register in az as a non resident
I live in Cal/boat reg'd in AZ; 2005/2006 was $189. If I did it in CA, it would be close to $950...

[Essex502]

The rules are very clear...
1) The boat must be registered out of California.
2) The boat must be outside of California on the first day of the tax year - i.e. January 1.
3) The boat must be [b]predominantly[/b/] moored outside California in the tax year.
Non-resident registration is available in Arizona but the registration fee is based on boat length. Still a lot less than the property tax charged in California.
Whatever you do, you MUST register the trailer in California for it to EVER travel on a California road of highway towed by a California resident.

[JetBoatRich]

you could register in Nevada :rolleyes:

[Jesster]

Personal property Tax in CA is 1% and boat registration in AZ is based upon the length of the boat 28ft I believe is 292.00. Do a search on AZ tax it will give you all the info you would like as well as fee schedules, I think they were posted by Boatcop among others. You can legally register in AZ as long as your boat is there at least 51% of the time and is not in CA on the 1st of the year. Your trailer must be registered in CA though, you dont want to be pulling a AZ trailer with a CA vehicle its a red flag for the authorities.

[Burley1]

I live in Cal/boat reg'd in AZ; 2005/2006 was $189. If I did it in CA, it would be close to $950...
Mine was the other way:
It cost me 16 bucks to do cali regi and 180 tax
az was 270 if I remember correctly

[socalmofo]

So it's OK to register the boat in AZ but I should register the trailer in California?

[Jyruiz]

So it's OK to register the boat in AZ but I should register the trailer in California?
Correct.

[RUCAV]

Yup! The PTI for a trailer is cheap. I think mine was $15

[kingsransomracing]

I am confused, where do you pay this "tax". I have a 1973 southwind and paid $10 for my CA 07 boat stickers (every two years), and I have a permanent trailer licence plate. Do I get a different bill in the mail?

[havaduner]

I am confused, where do you pay this "tax". I have a 1973 southwind and paid $10 for my CA 07 boat stickers (every two years), and I have a permanent trailer licence plate. Do I get a different bill in the mail?
Luxury tax is a yearly deal from the state, I think it starts for new boats over $35,000.00. Started in like 98, I think..

[kingsransomracing]

ah...ok...guess this redneck don't have to pay that :rollside: heres a picture of the boat. http://images5.pictiger.com/thumbs/86/36d6606991b544c7d0730f016d4c0286.th.jpg (http://server5.pictiger.com/img/151359/cars-and-motors/southwind.php)

[JetBoatRich]

Luxury tax is a yearly deal from the state, I think it starts for new boats over $35,000.00. Started in like 98, I think..
Not True :rolleyes: I pay yearly on my old JetBoat

[bigq]

It is not a luxury tax.

[Essex502]

Luxury tax is a yearly deal from the state, I think it starts for new boats over $35,000.00. Started in like 98, I think..
Actually it is a PROPERTY tax and it is accessed and collected by the COUNTY the registered owner of the boat lives in. A Property Tax bill will arrive once the County finds out about the boat. Usually that is through the DMV when the boat is registered. They have other ways as well...i.e. some counties send assessors to the local marinas and storage yards looking or boats with CA, AZ, NV or other state's numbers.
There is a lower value limit - I think it is MUCH. MUCH lower than $35K - where the county doesn't bother with the property tax as it would be so little. Jetskis and other low priced watercraft usually fall into this category.

[Essex502]

See this AZ Registration (http://www.azgfd.gov/outdoor_recreation/watercraft_registration.shtml)

[Essex502]

And this: California DMV (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/boatsinfo/boatreg.htm)
And this too: OC County Assessor (http://www.ocgov.com/assessor/faq.asp#BA)