Which state do I license through?

[wwilson]

Originally Posted by olson34

...As alluded to earlier, there are indeed WA sailors that keep boats on the oregon side of the Columbia River to avoid WA sales or use tax. If they are checked on by any WA enforcement authority the tax guys up in Olympia may well be informed in due course...once they see their home address.

Given your implication of deception, Oregon and Washington must have a very different definition of taxable use or property than Virginia and Maryland. There is no need for any concealment of the fact of a vessel properly registered in Maryland by a Virginia resident - with the provision (already stated a number of times) that the boat is kept in Maryland.

It is unclear what Olympia's concern would be, even if brought to their attention, if the property is purchased in Oregon, properly registered in Oregon and kept in Oregon.

[wwilson]

Originally Posted by TheWhiteRabbit

I respect your opinion, because you are living in my area, and obviously know more than I.

White, whoa again: proximity to the state house, nor a barrage of URLs doesn't make for expertise either!

[sailingdog]

IF the boat is bought in Oregon, kept in a marina in Oregon and used in Oregon waters mostly, then there really isn't any choice in the matter. You have to register it in OREGON. You will also have to pay any OREGON sales or use taxes on the boat. Depending on what Washington State laws say, you may also have to pay the Washington State Sales tax upon purchasing it.

[christyleigh]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Depending on what Washington State laws say, you may also have to pay the Washington State Sales tax upon purchasing it.

Possible I suppose...... but that would be a pretty strange law..... having to pay Washington sales tax on anything you bought in any other state for use in another state

I went through this when I bought my current boat 5 years ago in (then) sales tax free MD, docked in BOAT sales tax free RI (as I have all boats for the last 20 years). When my home residence state of MA got wind of the purchase - and they do - they sent me a letter saying I owed MA sales tax. I sent the MA people a registered letter informing them, and enclosing copies of my current pre-paid and last few years of RI Summer AND Winter dockage, that I always have docked in RI and would continue to dock in RI. End of story.

[olson34]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

IF the boat is bought in Oregon, kept in a marina in Oregon and used in Oregon waters mostly, then there really isn't any choice in the matter. You have to register it in OREGON. You will also have to pay any OREGON sales or use taxes on the boat. Depending on what Washington State laws say, you may also have to pay the Washington State Sales tax upon purchasing it.

Actually, there are multitudes of WA owned boats moored on the Oregon side of the Columbia River with Washington registration numbers on their bows. And, as stated previously, Oregon has no sales tax.

I have accompanied the local river patrol deputies around our moorage when they do their annual walk thru and they accept any current sticker as ok, either state.
Whether this meets every facet of the law, I do not know.

FWIW, their inspection is very much safety oriented, and like the local fire marshall they look for dangerous electrical hookups and any obvious signs of leaking oils. They are good guys and really hate having to do body recovery work.

The River Patrol tells us that having owners keep their stickers current (either state) is just one (very) small way to have the owners actually visit their boats before a lot of them remember that they own a boat in May or June, and suddenly leave the moorages and promptly have breakdowns (or worse) out on the waterways. (...sigh)

As for all the heat and little illumination about paying taxes or fees, any owner still needs to check with their own state of residence for best legal info. I wonder why this is not flamingly obvious?


Regards,
O

[christyleigh]

Back to the Rabbit's original question about License/Registration. That can get interesting too. Waayyyy....back before I discovered the joys of buying larger keelboats in RI and keeping them in RI (I didn't even know about the Sales Tax thing back then) I bought my trailer sailers in MA, registered them in MA, paid MA Sales Tax, and then trailered them down to RI for Summer dockage and brought them back to MA for the winter. One time I was getting a CG AUX inspection and the officer informed me that sometimes the RI DEM walk the docks looking for out-of-staters so they can make them get a RI DEM sticker if they stay in the state for x days. Well..... that one I just ignored and if they found me I would buy a sticker That would have gotten a bit strange and I wonder if MA would have said something like - You can't register that boat in 2 states ..... never got to find out as I moved onward and upward....

Also some states like RI require a RI DEM Registration Sticker for dockage even if the boat is Federally Documented like my last 3 were. So I have to buy a RI DEM Sticker for a couple hundred every couple years. The Joys of Boat Ownership .....just keep on commin......

[optikul81]

Hopefully you guys don't mind me jumping in on this thread but this brings up a very good point. I was planning on registering my boat in Oregon since I am legally an Oregon resident on Active duty stationed in Washington.. All my vehicles are registered in Oregon and I have an Oregon drivers license. I had no idea Washington had a use tax so I will have to check more indepth into that. That may change my mind on registering in Oregon vs Washington

Thank you!