Maryland fees

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millsan1

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I am getting conflicting info, and am hoping MD boaters can help me.

I would like to summer my boat in MD. I live in NJ.

The thing that is keeping me from doing this is what appears to be a 5% fee on all personal property, per year, in MD. Am I reading that correctly? Does everyone have to pay 5% of their boat's value, every year?

Any information is really appreciated.

Thanks
 
The excise tax is not an annual tax, it's a one time fee. Whether or not you are required to pay it is open to interpretation. If you are going to keep your boat in Maryland all year - you are required to pay it - but if you bought the boat in state that collected a tax, there may be an exemption, depending on how that state treats taxes paid in Maryland. If you use your boat more in New Jersey than you do in Maryland, you would not owe any tax.

This site may help.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/boating/registration/
 
Actually the enforcement of tax is after 90 days use in MD, does not have to be contiguous or in the same place, The state of MD owns the water up to mean low water on the VA side, so even if you anchor out THEY (MD) call that MD waters......be careful...keep the receipts of tax paid, from your home state, and a log of what marinas and where in MD you stayed, and if given the chance stay in Del, VA, etc....MD will send you a bill for what they think they are owed, usually $5K minus what you can prove you have paid in your home state, and you will have to prove otherwise....thus the paperwork. They run about 2-4 months behind in billing out of state owners..

Best of Luck,
 
I don't know where you got the "90 days" info but it is incorrect. From the MD DNR website:

"Your vessel, whether commercial or recreational, must be registered in Maryland if it is:
•Equipped with any kind of primary or auxiliary mechanical propulsion; and
•Used in Maryland most in a calendar year."

There is no specific number of days but it does depend on where you use the boat the majority of the year. What Rob (Ark) posted is correct. Also, since you likely paid a 6% tax to NJ when you registered the boat there, if you did choose to register the boat in MD all you would need to do is show proof thay you paid that tax and you would not need to pay any of the MD tax, just the $2.00 Title Fee (one time) and the $24.00, 2-year registration fee. Its really not expensive to boat in MD when compared to many other states.
 
Mike is correct.

My vessel is documented in MD but kept in VA. I do all of my boating in MD. The Potomac River, where I boat, belongs to MD., (except where it runs through the District of Columbia)
Never any problems.
 
Reel,

I am thinking of buying a new bigger boat but there is not enough water where I am. What is the low water over where you are?
 
Sorry to disagree, but I am not incorrect...not talking about registering, I am talking about paying the tax for BEING in MD waters, and this is from the MD DNR website posted above:

"If your vessel is duly registered in another jurisdiction but remains in Maryland waters more than 90 days in a calendar year, you may be liable for vessel excise tax unless you can prove principal use in another jurisdiction."

so there is a 90 day clock, and yes it is enforced for those of us in VA (and other states) who boat ...like it will be for a NJ registered or documented boat, in MD waters for more than 90 days in the calendar year. You guys with MD stickers, may not see the effects, but those of us who get nasty letters from the State of MD, months later do. Took several months in my case of letters and phone calls.

I still suggest that you keep your tax documents in order, you very well may need them..down the road. If you pay 6% in NJ, and have the docs to prove it. No problem.
 
Okay, I see what you're saying. I found this article below. However, my boat is kept year long in VA waters and while 100 yards away, is Maryland and I boat on it's waters I'm not paying a "use" tax to Maryland. I already pay yearly property tax in the county of which the boat resides in.

http://www.boattax.com/MA.Boat.Tax.Md.2010.htm
 
I suspect that these kind of things will start happening more often as communities search for ways to pay their budget deficits. Easy money for them to just watch marinas and attempt to collect 4-6% of a boats value. Like everything else though the revenue will be short lived as boaters find a more hospitable place to go. Then they lose the sales tax on purchases, people selling stuff to the boaters no longer have money to buy stuff and they lose that sales tax and.... Well you see where it goes. To bad the politicians don't.

That being said, it does not appear that MD tax is any different than any where else. Reciprocal taxation seems to be on every states books. The only time it hurts is if you come from a very low taxed state (if there are any left) to a high one. The part I disagree with is that there is no limitation on how long from when you purchase in another state and register in your new state. Example: If you buy your boat in 1999 in one state and the sales tax is 2% and then move to X state in 2010 and the tax is 6% you have to pay the additional 4% tax even though the purchase was actually years ago. To be fair you should only be charged what the tax rate was when you purchased the boat in 1999.
 
kd,
OK, I see where you got that and I stand corrected. MD does have that caveat in there ("you may be liable), but the principal use clause still trumps the 90 days. There ws a case a couple of years ago where a California boat owner who had sailed into MD waters and then had his boat hauled for work was assessed the tax. He challenged it in court and won. As we've all said, best thing is to keep all your tax receipts in a safe place,
 
I was nailed by Tax police over the winter for my runabout. They had digital pictures from different points throughout the 09 season. I paid them. I'm surprised at the amount of small and large boats at Skip Jack with DE registration. They too will be hearing from the dept. of nature resources as they're looking for $$..
 
They nailed SJC pretty hard about 5 years ago. Not to say they won't go there again.
 
We use to be at the Bay Bridge Marina. They would put one on the dock and one in a small boat and canvas the marina looking for $$. I saw this ever year for 4 years. A slip neighbor received a 33k tax bill from the state (registered in CT). He showed proof that had paid taxes in CT was all was fine.
 
Considering that more often than not folks buy a boat through a broker and register it in some state. All or most of the taxes should have already been paid. How much money do they spend in resources vs. payback? Considering a million dollar boat would only bring in $60000. $10mil in unpaid boats at the full rate would be $600k. Likely the best collection rate would be more around 3%. Although if they have $100mil in boats at that rate they could collect $3mil. I just don't see that as likely.
 
J

you are making a lot of assumptions about the state of MD.. none of that ROI means anything to these folks...efficient - not likely either. This is the same state that just few months back turned a 6 time jailbird loose on the street for "good behavior" and he promptly shot a cop at a family restaurant...

you would not believe...
 
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