>Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 21:12:18 -0400 >To: Kent & Gloria Lewis <klewis@san.rr.com> >From: Jim Alexander <89Vista43@comcast.net> >Subject: Re: TWL: Best tax state > >> >>My wife and I are about to become tax refugees from California. The plan is >>to move our official residence to a state which does not have an income tax >>and then spend the next couple of years doing the Great Loop. Right now the >>non-income tax states we are considering are Nevada, Texas, and Florida. We >>will be seeking professional help (no, not psychiatric, legal<g>), but if >>anyone has experience, concerns, or ideas that will help us make a >>decision or >>ask the right questions, it will be appreciated. > >I will address this from what I know about Florida. Florida has no state >income tax. Florida also has no personal property tax on vehicles >including boats, just an annual registration fee that runs about $30-40. >on cars trucks and small boats to a figure of about $125.00 on my 43' >ACMY. However, truthfully they seem to get the money from you everywhere >else, from high fuel taxes to relatively (depending on where you come >from) high property taxes. Also things here like auto and homeowners >insurance are also high compared to the Mid-west where I came from, in >example my auto insurance more than doubled here. They also have a sales >tax on boats of 6%, however, if you purchase your boat out of state or buy >it here and remove it within 90 days from the state for minimum of 6 >months, you can avoid the sales tax on the boat. Everything else, because >it is basically all shipped in from up north, is more expensive, notably >groceries. My wife estimated our grocery bill increased about 20% when we >moved here from Indiana. All that said, what I saved myself in income >taxes was more than eaten up by the higher cost of living here. However, >I haven't had to shovel snow once and my boat is docked 25 Ft. from my >back door so I am not complaining! > >Not to plug my occupation, but Charlotte County, Florida has about the >last of the affordable waterfront property left anywhere in the nation, >but even this area is starting to creep up towards millionaire territory. > > >Jim Alexander, Realtor >Vista 43 >Port Charlotte, FL Jim Alexander, Realtor Vista 43 Port Charlotte, FL

Jim Alexander wrote: > [Florida] also have a sales > tax on boats of 6%, however, if you purchase your boat out of state or buy > it here and remove it within 90 days from the state for minimum of 6 > months, you can avoid the sales tax on the boat. Jim, I think you can only avoid the 6% tax as above if you are NOT a resident of FL. Bob ________________ R C Smith Jr M/V MARY KATHRYN Hatteras 58 LRC Annapolis

The Florida rule is just as Jim Alexander stated: own the boat for six months out of state, and pay no tax of any kind when you bring it into Florida. Applies to anyone, not just non-residents. Just went through this last year, and I'm a Florida resident. At 07:45 AM 6/27/2003, R C Smith Jr wrote: >Jim Alexander wrote: > > > [Florida] also have a sales > > tax on boats of 6%, however, if you purchase your boat out of state or buy > > it here and remove it within 90 days from the state for minimum of 6 > > months, you can avoid the sales tax on the boat. > >Jim, I think you can only avoid the 6% tax as above if you are NOT a >resident of FL. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Bob McLeran and Judy Young Email: mailto:rmcleran@ix.netcom.com M/V Sanderling Manatee Cove Marina, Patrick Air Force Base Hampton 35 Trawler Melbourne, Florida