Winnipesaukee Forum - View Single Post

GusMan · 05-15-2015, 12:36 PM

Hi All,

I've been through a similar situation and it is confusing.

In my case, I live in MA but had a house on Merrymeeting. The boat was bought at a NH dealer would only be used in NH but would spend the winters on the trailer in MA.

Legally, the boat had to be registered in NH since it spent x number of consecutive days in NH. The trailer would be registered in MA, since that's my primary residence (I'm not sure about the non-resident trailer reg in NH). The suggestion for separate bills of sale is a good one, in MA the 2 registrations are done by two different agencies in separate transactions. And yes, sales tax collection occurs at the time of registration.

However Massachusetts, being the land of taxes, expects you to pay sales tax on the boat regardless of where it is registered (or purchased for that matter). It's called the "Use" tax and applies to all purchases made for which a MA sales tax would have been collected if the purchase was made in MA.

So, that $100,000 super pontoon boat purchased by a MA resident at Irwin's Marine, launched on Winnie for its entire life, stored indoors at Irwin's for the winters is *still* subject to a Use (sales!) tax of 6.25% or $6260. Oh, and it's up to the owner to submit the forms and check (wink wink).

So sayeth Massachusetts......

Fun stuff.......

Gusman

05-15-2015, 12:36 PM	#4
GusMan Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 134 Thanks: 1 Thanked 45 Times in 26 Posts	Mass/NH registration.... Hi All, I've been through a similar situation and it is confusing. In my case, I live in MA but had a house on Merrymeeting. The boat was bought at a NH dealer would only be used in NH but would spend the winters on the trailer in MA. Legally, the boat had to be registered in NH since it spent x number of consecutive days in NH. The trailer would be registered in MA, since that's my primary residence (I'm not sure about the non-resident trailer reg in NH). The suggestion for separate bills of sale is a good one, in MA the 2 registrations are done by two different agencies in separate transactions. And yes, sales tax collection occurs at the time of registration. However Massachusetts, being the land of taxes, expects you to pay sales tax on the boat regardless of where it is registered (or purchased for that matter). It's called the "Use" tax and applies to all purchases made for which a MA sales tax would have been collected if the purchase was made in MA. So, that $100,000 super pontoon boat purchased by a MA resident at Irwin's Marine, launched on Winnie for its entire life, stored indoors at Irwin's for the winters is still subject to a Use (sales!) tax of 6.25% or $6260. Oh, and it's up to the owner to submit the forms and check (wink wink). So sayeth Massachusetts...... Fun stuff....... Gusman