Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: California Waterway Usage Fee?

  1. #1
    desertbird
    Had a friend try to register a USED boat he bought the other day. 21 foot daycruiser, Volvo Penga. He called me to ask about some usage fee the DMV gal was trying to tack on in the amount of $1800!!!
    I told him it was B.S. for his boat and not to pay, rather try again later. Since the conversation I have looked all over and found nothing about a waterway usage fee in California.
    Anyone heard of this or recently had to pay it??
    Adittionally, he's paying luxury tax on a $20,000 boat. Seems odd to me.

  2. #2
    Mrs. Bordsmnj
    We pay a luxury tax on our boat. Have on all them actually.
    Never heard of a waterway usage fee though. Tell the DMV he only drives on the AZ side of the water so does not need to pay the CA tax.

  3. #3
    Krumbsnatcher
    You are legally obliged to register your boat where you boat the majority of your time. So unless you are a big blue advocate, or boat in California lakes you should be registering your vessel under the state where you boat primarily.
    Now if you tow your vessel in California without a California registration you are supposed to obtain a temporary towing permit for all state highways.
    Don't laugh when i first bought my boat i was towing it back from arizona on the 10 and some rookie CHP pulls me over for my out of date tags and impounded my boat $$$$ (29 Magic).
    I ended up having to register the trailer with the DMV and provide the impound yard in Palm Desert with a valid trailer registration and $1000 overnight stay.
    just .02

  4. #4
    MRS FLYIN VEE
    We pay a luxury tax on our boat. Have on all them actually.
    Never heard of a waterway usage fee though. Tell the DMV he only drives on the AZ side of the water so does not need to pay the CA tax.
    LMAO!!

  5. #5
    RitcheyRch
    Ditto that. Never really understood how they come up with this luxury tax. Assume is based on value of said boat buit not sure how they come up with that value.
    We pay a luxury tax on our boat. Have on all them actually.
    Never heard of a waterway usage fee though. Tell the DMV he only drives on the AZ side of the water so does not need to pay the CA tax.

  6. #6
    frdvschvy
    The CA luxury tax is like property taxes for the boat. This is part of the annual registration fees for boats registered in CA. Your buddy will be paying this luxury tax on an annual basis. I love my AZ non resident boat registration.

  7. #7
    Dave C
    Water usage tax??? WTF? Sure it was the sales tax due to Cali?
    Also the property taxes are collected by the county he lives in (or stores the boat in) Its % of the value of the boat (not the trailer)

  8. #8
    Tom Brown
    Throw the book at them, Rio. http://www.***boat.com/ubb/mad.gif

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    2,626
    ... Not sure if this is true but I was just told that the county stops assessing the personal property tax at the ten year mark. ..check it out.
    I don't think there is any cutoff date. Bought my 74 Tahiti when it was 10 years old and paid the property tax on it til I sold it. By then the "assessed value" was so low the tax was about $11/year. My current boat was purchased as a bare hull project. Only paid $1000 for hull/trailer. Because the value was so low, the county never sent a tax bill. When I called them to make sure there wasn't a problem, I was told they(my county, at least) don't bother with tax on anything below $1500. I guess the tax isn't worth the cost of the paperwork.

  10. #10
    BoatPI
    What the DMV refered to is legally described as "use tax". We commonly know it as sales tax. Same same.

Similar Threads

  1. 496 mag, fuel usage question ???
    By finsfan4life in forum Sandbar
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 09-26-2007, 12:53 PM
  2. 100% cpu usage
    By Phat Matt in forum Sandbar
    Replies: 32
    Last Post: 12-14-2006, 11:25 AM
  3. Definitions for tool usage
    By rrrr in forum Sandbar
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 01-09-2006, 08:53 AM
  4. Replies: 9
    Last Post: 05-26-2005, 03:16 AM
  5. New to outboards fuel usage compared to I/Os
    By MIKEHTMSR24 in forum Outboards
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 02-06-2005, 05:47 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •