Can anyone confirm what the taxes are on a sailboat in California? I’m reading 10% sales tax and 1% annual luxury tax. Is this true, or is my google-fu failing me?
And, how is the assessment value for the luxury tax calculated?
Depends on the county for sales tax in CA. Anywhere from 7.5-10%. San Francisco is 10%. Annual registration isnt bad, but depending on the county they will ding you with a "Luxury," actually a property tax separately, San Francisco is 1%.
If you don't provide your county with sales information, they can put an arbitrary value on the boat and really ding you. Years ago had to go back and forth on one particular boat and its value. It ended after I offered to sell the boat the to tax assessor for 10% of his assessed value and suggested he pocket the difference.
If your marina doesnt report to the county, you may be able to skip this tax. Or if a smaller boat you keep on a trailer, the county will never know its there unless you tell them. Many marinas, including my current one, reports to them. So be prepared with some sort of paperwork to validate the value you put on the boat.
In some marinas, generally municipally owned, the city or county will also charge you property tax on the slip you rent. Not all, but some do. Make sure to ask about that before signing an lease. I pay property tax to the city for the slip I rent from them. Talk about a kick in the balls.
Buts it minor, a couple hundred dollars a year.
I've grown up on boats and owned many over the years. A few pieces of advice.
Boats don't have to be a money pit if you are willing to do most if not all the maintenance yourself. Project boats are more often than not more expensive in the long run than turn key boats for a bit more money. If you don't have experience, do NOT buy a such a boat. Even worse, the free boats. Most expensive of all of them. Not kidding.
You manage the big costs of ownership during that initial purchase and properly assessing anything wrong and/or the life left in major components at that time. Again, experience.
Lastly, it's just as much fun to sail a $3500 Santana 22, sometimes even more so, as it is to sail a million dollar 70' Swan luxury yacht. Unless you are racing, there isn't anywhere to get to fast. Even a 25' boat in 25 knts of wind with the rail down through ebb chop feels like 200 mph.... and then surfing a keel boat offshore in big swell.
Its all about spending time on the water.
