South Carolina boat owners moving yachts to Bahamas due to property taxes

11.2.2010

Increased enforcement of property taxes on yachts in South Carolina may be driving many boat owners to purchase luxury villas in Jamaica or the Bahamas and storing their boats there for much of the year.

The South Carolina-based newspaper The State reports that while the taxes have been on the books for years, the enforcement has picked up significantly in recent months. But owners can avoid paying the taxes if their boats are registered in another state or country, and don't stay in South Carolina waters for 180 days or more.

"What we've done is left after 179 days," Charleston-area resident John Thomas, owner of a 50-foot boat worth about half a million dollars, told the paper. "I'll take my $10,000 [that would be owed in taxes] and buy some fuel and stay in the Bahamas."

The paper reports that the official state law actually only allows for 90 days spent in state waters, but many coastal counties have passed laws extending it.

One of the reason luxury villas in the Bahamas may be attractive for boat owners is that country's favorable tax climate. The Super Yacht Times reports that the country has no property taxes, and eliminated its tax on boat replacement parts in 2007.