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can someone please tell me the process for paying sales tax in Fl and tranferring boat to ga....
the boat/motor/trailer combo is 21,500.00

I spoke to my Ga county tag office, they told me they only tax new trailers and no sales tax on used trailers....and that the boat is taken care of by registering it with the state.....

problem is, finance company (bank of America)says that all sales tax has to be collected and paid prior to me taking possession....if Ga does not have a sales tax on these items then whats going on???!!!!!! My county tag office told me that there only requirement would be whether the trailor was over or under 2000 lbs, if over that then the trailer required being "titled"....

I'm not the first person from Ga to buy a boat from a florida dealer !!!! why is it so hard to nail down this info from the dealer or finance company?????

Do I have to pay Florida sales tax????? if so on what??? total price of boat/motor/trailer??? boat/trailer?????

again this is a used boat from a boat dealership


please ..any info, from people that done this process would be great

Are you buying the boat in Florida? If so, we want our money. Pay up before you take it to GA.

yep, buying in Florida.....but I dont think I pay a sales tax.....

Boats Sold to Nonresidents

A boat may be purchased tax-exempt if it is sold by or through a registered boat dealer or yacht broker to a nonresident who will remove the boat from the state.

The following requirements must be met:

The purchaser must sign an affidavit stating that he or she has read the law and rules regarding the specific exemption claimed and agrees to remove the boat from Florida.
A boat of less than 5 net tons of admeasurement must leave Florida within 10 days of purchase or immediately be placed in the care, custody, and control of a registered repair facility for repairs, additions, or alterations. The boat must leave Florida within 20 days after completion of the repairs.
If the boat is 5 net tons of admeasurement or larger, the purchaser may obtain a set of Florida Department of Revenue boat decals, which authorize the boat to remain in Florida waters up to 90 days after purchase. The decals can be obtained from the selling dealer or broker. This 90-day period may not be extended for any reason.
Within 5 days of the date of sale, the dealer must provide DOR with a copy of the invoice, bill of sale, and/or closing statement; and the original, signed, removal affidavit.
Within 10 days of removing the boat, the purchaser must furnish DOR with proof that the boat left Florida. Receipts for fuel, dockage, or repairs purchased outside Florida are acceptable proof, if they identify the boat.
Within 30 days of removal, the purchaser must provide DOR with written proof that the boat was licensed, titled, registered, or documented outside the state; or provide evidence that he or she has applied for such.


This exemption does not apply to a Florida resident, an entity where the controlling person is a Florida resident, or a corporation where any officers or directors are Florida residents.

Short answer is get a different finance company. The correct procedure is for you to pay your taxes in GA when you register the boat with your local tax office.

Only other solution would be for the boat dealer to collect the GA registration tax for you and have them pay the GA tax office.

FlatCrazy wrote:Short answer is get a different finance company. The correct procedure is for you to pay your taxes in GA when you register the boat with your local tax office.

Only other solution would be for the boat dealer to collect the GA registration tax for you and have them pay the GA tax office.

I agree!
Tag receipt based on title transfer in GA always sufficient for me when financing new or used from out of state. I've been a customer of BOA since it took over C&S in Albany many years ago and they have acted more weird and indecisive in the past 4 months than all the other years combined. I've never used their "boat" loan because of red tape involved....too many other banks and credit unions out there willing to make reasonable loans. DOCO in Albany right now very good rates on auto/boat loans. Good Luck!

Because you are buying it from a dealership you must pay sales tax on the entire purchase price. It's no different than if you went to Sportsman's Warehouse in Tallahassee and purchased fishing tackle planning on using it in Georgia. You still have to pay the sales tax because the dealer will have to pay it to the Florida DOR. If you were buying a used boat from an individual it would be different. You would take the bill of sale and Florida registration to the tax collectors office and pay your sales tax and registration transfer fees. If you have a good itemized bill of sale then you pay tax on only the hull and trailer. The way you are doing it Georgia should handle it as a transfer and only require registration transfer fees.

When is Georgia going to enter the 21st. century and require boat titles is what I want to know.

Nathan

There is NO sales tax to be paid to Florida if you are removing the boat and follow the procedure above.

Georgia does not charge you a sales tax when you register a boat, but does charge sales tax on a new or used trailer when you register it and it was purchased from a dealer and not an individual.

Georgia does charge a use tax, which is the same amount as the sales tax, for a boat purchased from a dealer in another state, but then brought into Georgia. You have to file a return and pay it to the State Revenue office. If there is not a local office in or near you, you have to send it to Atlanta. They will be in shock when you do it, because almost no one does it.

And Nathan, Florida's system sucks worse than Georgia's. How anyone from the State with hanging chads could say their State is more technologically advanced than even Cuba is a joke.

Oops, I was wrong. Did some research. What MudDucker posted is correct. Never had to deal with that before. Every boat I've bought was in Florida and I've never lived anywhere outside of Florida (don't want to).
As for Georgia being a non-titling state the only person it hurts is the owner when their boat is stolen. Georgia is one of the top states for number of boat thefts. It creates a cluster for LEO's to deal with when working on vessels stolen in Georgia. I'm not saying Florida is perfect by any means. We've got our own problems, but Georgia needs to update their boat registration and titling system and join the 21st century.

Nathan

Nathan wrote:Oops, I was wrong. Did some research. What MudDucker posted is correct. Never had to deal with that before. Every boat I've bought was in Florida and I've never lived anywhere outside of Florida (don't want to).
As for Georgia being a non-titling state the only person it hurts is the owner when their boat is stolen. Georgia is one of the top states for number of boat thefts. It creates a cluster for LEO's to deal with when working on vessels stolen in Georgia. I'm not saying Florida is perfect by any means. We've got our own problems, but Georgia needs to update their boat registration and titling system and join the 21st century.

Nathan

I bet Nathan thinks Florida deserves our Georgia water...for free!

I've lived in Georgia for most of my years and the only boat I've ever had stolen was is Florida!

So let me get this straight....Georgia residents should buy used boats from an individual that resides in Florida and then they will only have to register, title and pay tax on the trailer. Wow, that is kinda stupid when you think about it.

cueball wrote:So let me get this straight....Georgia residents should buy used boats from an individual that resides in Florida and then they will only have to register, title and pay tax on the trailer.

That's the general idea. Or buy one in GA and get around the hassle.

Aren't near as many good used saltwater boats in Georgia to pick from. Besides, Florida is in the top 10 bank foreclosure states in the country right now, Lots and lots of individuals needing to get boats off of their asset listings in order to get themselves back in black.

It all comes out in the wash. When I commuted to work in Florida, I had to pay income tax to Georgia. I currently have co-workers that live in Florida and work with me in Georgia that have to pay income tax to Georgia. I asked them who they voted for last time around for our district state representative and was shocked to discover that they were not allowed to vote in Georgia local elections or on local issues such as the 1% special sales tax that always sparks lots of local attention. Didn't our country fight a war over being taxed without representation? And now, less than 200 years later, we began doing it to ourselves. I guess we have mellowed out somewhat as to what we truly believe.

cueball wrote: I guess we have mellowed out somewhat as to what we truly believe.

I can think of a much more descriptive explanation than "mellowed out" but I'd be banned from the forum!

cueball wrote:So let me get this straight....Georgia residents should buy used boats from an individual that resides in Florida and then they will only have to register, title and pay tax on the trailer. Wow, that is kinda stupid when you think about it.

No, before you go hooping up and down about stupid, you ain't got it right. Georgia don't care where the seller is from, so long as he/she/it is not a dealer, there will be NO SALES TAX on the sale. If the seller is a dealer, they tax the entire transaction, the trailer as sales tax when you register the trailer and the boat by use tax when you fess up and pay it. A LOT OF STATES DO IT THIS WAY.

RHTFISH wrote:I bet Nathan thinks Florida deserves our Georgia water...for free!

I've lived in Georgia for most of my years and the only boat I've ever had stolen was is Florida!