California boat registration fee increase

[Tom]

RBOC, the Recreational Boaters Of California reports that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed into law Senate Bill 255 to increase the boat registration fee from $10 to $20 every two years. Read more about it on the SB255 page of the RBOC web site.

 

[rvrrat]

And what about his luxury tax on boats (or as he call it "personal property tax). Is that going up also? This is why so many people reg their boats out of state.

 

[Tom]

And what about his luxury tax on boats (or as he call it "personal property tax). Is that going up also? This is why so many people reg their boats out of state.

Haven't seen the proposed state property tax. This is normally a tax levied by individual counties. There used to be a 10% luxury tax on boats imposed at the time of sale, but that was abandoned a number of years ago following much lobbying by the boat manufacturers. IIRC this was a federal luxury tax. Is this being resurrected under a state proposal?

Folks do take delivery of boats and RVs out of state to avoid California state tax, irrespective of where they're registered. The requirement used to be that the vessel or vehicle had to kept out of state for 91 days out the first 6 months of ownership, which led to marinas just south of the border such as the "90 day marina". A couple of years ago California changed the requirement so vessels/vehicles have to be kept out of state for a year.