Georgia Personal Property Tax for boat no longer in GA

[shrivel]

So, I purchased a boat in a private sale last February here in Georgia and paid the appropriate taxes on it last year at tax time. We had it stored at a boat storage in Bartow County, intending to keep it there as we boated on Lake Allatoona, but plans changed for us and at the end of June, we purchased a home on the SC side of Lake Hartwell. We originally intended to tow the boat back and forth from Bartow to our house, but it just seemed easier to leave it at the lake house in SC. We kept the lease on the storage unit until the end of October, when we put the boat in storage in SC. So now I have a property tax bill from Bartow County for a boat registered in GA, but has technically been stored in SC for more than 6 months out of last year.

I planned to leave the boat registered in GA until the current registration ran out and just bite the bullet and pay the property tax on it here in GA, even though it's not stored here any longer. Any reasons why I shouldn't do this?

 

[Elliott]

Technically you should register the boat where you keep it or your legal residence/domicile. SC (if they have it) is entitled to any personal property tax, since you no longer have a connection to GA (your storage lease expired). I would go ahead and register the boat in SC. You should have recently filed or are planning to file your GA personal property statement for the boat, and the question is where is it on JAN 1 or whatever date they reference. Do not affirm GA's property tax statement and then reregister; you might end up paying both states for the same year.

Now taking a step back, does anyone really care or will they find out - the answer is probably no. BTW, what state is your trailer tag?

One thing that you must do is keep your insurance company updated as to where (and probably how) the boat is stored. It could impact your rates.

 

[shrivel]

Trailer is registered in GA as well. So, looking at the property tax form more closely, there's no place to note where the boat is located - the form just seems to assume it's located in the county listed and there's a statement saying "boats shall be returned to the county where located 184 days a year..."

If I went ahead and registered the boat in SC within the next month or so and the boat is no longer considered located in GA, do I not return the form or is there some other way to inform them the boat is now in SC?

EDIT: It appears this is not a "bill" but a "Personal Property Tax Return". It seems to be just confirming the boat is located where is was originally.

 

[Elliott]

Correct - it is not a bill. You should call GA to determine what will be required to extinguish their right to tax your boat; it probably will be the registration from SC. SC may notify them automatically, but I would call to ensure there will not be a glitch.

 

[DaytonFlyer1068]

I live in Gwinnett and got one of those statements too. I’m also keeping the boat at Hartwell. Let me know how this goes. I was just planning on paying the Georgia property tax.
@shrivel just curious. When you say you paid appropriate tax last year after buying your boat are you just talking about registration? I bought my boat private sale in October and registered it in Georgia right away. I was told no sales tax for private sale.

 

[ChrisM]

Something to research in GA, but here in SC if your vessel, and or outboard motor is titled in SC you will get a property tax bill each year no matter where it's stored, and no matter if it's registered or not. South Carolina also does not require registration on the trailer, unless "it's used outside of the state"
A SC title is stating that your boat lives in the state of SC. South Carolina also has rules for out of state titled/registered boats being used on their lakes, here in York County, it's something like in excess of 60 or 90 days of usage, you are required to title and register here. Hard to prove, and lake patrol doesn't appear to be watching everyone every day. so big loophole there. I disagree with the whole personal property tax thing to begin with, after my second year of paying $1,000.00 personal property tax, I lawfully registered out of state to avoid that all together.

 

[shrivel]

@shrivel just curious. When you say you paid appropriate tax last year after buying your boat are you just talking about registration? I bought my boat private sale in October and registered it in Georgia right away. I was told no sales tax for private sale.

Hmmmmm. I could be misremembering, I also bought a couple cars at the beginning of last year as well, so it's all a blur. You may be right and I paid no tax either. I'm gonna call the tax office on Monday and see if they can give me an answer.

 

[shrivel]

If anyone's still interested: I contacted Bartow Co last week and the guy was very nice and basically told me to complete the forms as best as I could, but make a note on the second form stating the boat was no longer in the state. I will go ahead and register the boat in SC when I am able to get to the physical ID plates next week (SC requires an etching or photo of the ID plates to register).

 

[Elliott]

Hopefully, the taxes are lower in SC.

 

[ChrisM]

Hopefully, the taxes are lower in SC.

HA...!!!
Did you see what they were charging me on a new boat?

 

[Matt Phillips]

In California the property tax is charged in whatever county it is primarily stored in/used. whoever owns the boat on Jan 1 pays the property tax for the year. Thus since I owned the boat on Jan I of 2021, I get the privilege of paying for the taxes on it even if it's sold later in the year. Boat storage lots also report to the county tax collector the boats in their lots on Jan 1 of each year...so a lot of times they get their information from there.

I live in the Bay Area but store the boat in the Central Valley (as it's cheaper out there). Occasionally I'll get a tax note from my home county asking for their $ and it usually just takes a letter stating the boat is not in the county nor used in the county and it's being collected in ___ county. My home county then quietly backs off.

 

[Ronnie]

To supplement @Matt Phillips response above as a fellow CA resident, all counties in CA charge this luxury tax so it would not have done me any good to state that it is stored in some other county, I’d have to take it out of state to a state that doesn’t charge the tax to avoid the fees. Here in CA it’s 1% of the assessed hull value. I get charged for my boat and waverunners. It sucks in that almost none of the money goes toward boating related activities.

 

[warengryn]

Property tax documents are a vital record for prospective buyers to check when they are researching a property. The paperwork shows how much property taxes will be charged over the life of the property. Before you even step foot in your new home, you must understand how much you will owe in property taxes. This can help you stay motivated and make an informed decision about whether you should buy the house or not. You can use ThePayStubs that will generate the paystub automatically for you. It's straightforward to use.

 

[jocolo21]

Register your boat in souyh dakota, lower priperty taxes

 

[Mesa50]

Property tax was $1,800 on my 2021 212X in SC. A friend of mine had to pay over $600 on a 2020 jet ski. Paying an annual tax on personal property that you’ve already been taxed on, is ridiculous. I’m pretty sure our forefathers would have called it tyranny. It’s a down right shame that one of the most conservative and supposedly most free states in the union, still has a draconian personal property tax.

 

[suke]

Property tax was $1,800 on my 2021 212X in SC. A friend of mine had to pay over $600 on a 2020 jet ski. Paying an annual tax on personal property that you’ve already been taxed on, is ridiculous. I’m pretty sure our forefathers would have called it tyranny. It’s a down right shame that one of the most conservative and supposedly most free states in the union, still has a draconian personal property tax.

I paid tax on my boat in NC when I bought it, and pay nearly $700 a year just for the luxury of owning the boat in NC. That doesn't include my annual registration with the state, NOR my registration/tax for the trailer. It's pretty ridiculous I have to pay taxes on something I've already bought and paid taxes on.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Register your boat in souyh dakota, lower priperty taxes

Legally, you usually register (and pay tax) on a boat, where the boat is being used (many states have xx number of days in that state, you register it there).

South Dakota works great for RV's that are constantly on the move and is a legal alternative for a lot of folks. Day usage of a boat, probably not good advice unless the boat is being used in South Dakota.

Jim

 

[Sean R]

Property tax was $1,800 on my 2021 212X in SC. A friend of mine had to pay over $600 on a 2020 jet ski. Paying an annual tax on personal property that you’ve already been taxed on, is ridiculous. I’m pretty sure our forefathers would have called it tyranny. It’s a down right shame that one of the most conservative and supposedly most free states in the union, still has a draconian personal property tax.

Man $1800.00 is a lot, I guess $430.00 in GA isn't that bad.

 

[YamSport]

To supplement @Matt Phillips response above as a fellow CA resident, all counties in CA charge this luxury tax so it would not have done me any good to state that it is stored in some other county, I’d have to take it out of state to a state that doesn’t charge the tax to avoid the fees. Here in CA it’s 1% of the assessed hull value. I get charged for my boat and waverunners. It sucks in that almost none of the money goes toward boating related activities.

I paid tax on my boat in NC when I bought it, and pay nearly $700 a year just for the luxury of owning the boat in NC. That doesn't include my annual registration with the state, NOR my registration/tax for the trailer. It's pretty ridiculous I have to pay taxes on something I've already bought and paid taxes on.

That is absolutely insane that states charge a yearly luxury tax on your property. History repeats itself..

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

Doesn't really matter where you live, the state gets their cut one way of the other. Tax revenues are usually some combination of real estate property tax, personal property tax, income taxes, and sales tax. Usually a state that doesn't have one of these, makes up for the tax money someplace else.

In Delaware I'll pay $0 sales tax on my next boat. I will also pay $0 property tax on the boat.. All good!

We will, however, also pay $11,000 in Real Estate Transfer Tax to build our new home on the lot we already own.

Jim