Not for sale?

[QuickMick]

Looking through some classifieds in a boat mag i noticed some boats are marked 'Not for sale in US waters' and i was kind of confused as to why this would be. Some type of difference in construction code? Seller an expatriate with an outstading lien/judgment in the US?

just curious.
enjoy the weekend.

[timangiel]

they were probably stolen from US waters

[SlowButSteady]

It's probably because they are foreign flagged vessels. Selling such a vessel in the US requires that it be "imported", and taxes/duties paid. In other words, it's often just another tax dodge.

[Minnewaska]

Must be more to it than taxes, used boats are imported to the US all the time. The import tax is less than sales taxes, I believe, and always paid by the buyer.

[SlowButSteady]

Actually, unless I'm mistaken, the duty is paid by the seller, because the boat has to be imported before it's sold. In any case, browse around the threads here and you'll get an idea to what lengths some folks will go to avoid paying a few bucks in taxes, duties, et cetera.

[mitiempo]

I believe duty would be paid by the buyer. A boat can be brought into any country without paying duty as a visiting boat, assuming the owner is not from that country. Upon sale duty is then due if sold to a person from that country.

[SlowButSteady]

See Buying a Foreign-Flagged Boat - Cautionary Tale

"The Customs agent (CA) in charge there got on the phone to inform me that they had no record of ABLE's importation, and that if I had indeed purchased the boat, the seller was guilty of selling....and I was guilty of buying..... illegal contraband, which would be seized by the US government and the outcome (fines and possible prison time) would be determined in Federal Court."

In other words, the vessel must be imported before the transaction.

[mitiempo]

I stand corrected.

That explains the original question though. A boat in the US, registered in another country can not be purchased by an American Citizen.

[CanadianDave]

So

how would that work if a Canadian is buying a US registered/owned boat?

I know of a couple guys locally who have been going south buying trophy boats and returning selling them here for a profit. but I've never heard of them saying anything about paying duties.

[Minnewaska]

I guess I misunderstood the premise. I thought a US citizen was buying a boat in another country, then importing it to the US.