Shopping for Yacht? New York Budget Offers a Tax Break

[In_The_Wind]

By SUSANNE CRAIGMARCH 30, 2015

Of the thousands of items packed into Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s $150 billion budget for New York State, one in particular seemed to float to the top: a tax credit for buyers of luxury boats.

Though the word “yacht” is never used, the budget contains a tax break for anyone in the market for a “vessel” valued at more than $230,000. Specifically, buyers will not have to pay sales tax beyond that amount, regardless of the final price tag. A vessel is defined in state law as “every description of watercraft, other than a seaplane, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/nyregion/shopping-for-yacht-new-york-budget-offers-a-tax-break.html?_r=0

I think I'll buy 2 ...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Does New York have yachtbuilding yards?

Or does this apply if you buy yachts made anywhere?

Ie, is this just another giveaway to the ultrarich, or is it also supposedly a backdoor bailout of yachtbuilders in state?

[In_The_Wind]

3. After a search, it appears as if there are boat builders in Long Island.

However, Jeff Strong, the president of Strong’s Marine on Long Island, said the credit would create jobs and tax revenue in New York, with money that is currently flowing out of state. “It is a big deal because we have so many people with expensive boats that use them in New York and Florida,” he explained. “Right now they buy the boats, and pay the tax, in Florida, and then bring them up here.”

The tax, he said, puts the state roughly on a par with Florida in how it taxes yacht purchases.

[PoliticAverse]

2. "A yacht tax break with many fathers"

ALBANY—A sales tax exemption for expensive boats that was included in New York’s final budget had its genesis in both houses of the Legislature.

A version of the measure, which exempts from sales tax any portion of the purchase of a boat above $230,000, was included in a budget clean-up bill last year that was never actually introduced.

The carve-out was not included in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s original budget proposal, but both houses of the Legislature included some version of the provision in their one-house budget proposals this year, and its inclusion in the final budget means both the governor and the legislative leaders agreed on the final proposal.

The exemption, which Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos defended Monday as a way to create jobs, could benefit not only yacht owners, boat manufacturers and retailers, but also marina owners and operators.

Read the rest at: http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/03/8565138/yacht-tax-break-many-fathers?news-image

[In_The_Wind]

4. The rest of the story is even more interesting.

[antiquie]

5. Dear Jeff Strong:

I'm pretty sure New York has no desire to become like Florida.

[In_The_Wind]

6. It's all about the big bucks at the top.

I seriously doubt if this bill will encourage any more money to flow into local coffers beyond the boat-brokers and marinas.

[antiquie]

7. No more money or jobs would be my bet.

Loophole You Can Sail a Yacht Through (June 2004)

[locks]

8. I just saw

Steve Jobs' yacht docked at Costa Baja, Mexico. It took 10 years to build and he did not live to see it completed. It cost 125 million to build so I thought that must make it the most expensive yacht in the world. But what you can learn on Apple thanks to Jobs: the most expensive yachts in the world go from 225 million to 4.8 BILLION. The tax breaks seem more than fair since they have crews from 24 to 456. Jobs the jobs creator.