No WA excise tax is due on a CD 16

M

Marco Flamingo

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C Dory Year
2004
C Dory Model
16 Cruiser
Vessel Name
Limpet
I just got back from licensing my boat for the year. When I went in the first time, the licensing agent would not take the original sales brochure, which stated 15'11" as the length, as the actual length of the vessel. He wanted a signed letter from C-Dory stating that my hull number was 15'11". I emailed C-Dory and got a call from the shop foreman. He had measured the mold (no 16s in the shop at the time) and came up with 15'10", which is what I came up with. I then got a letter stating that the CD 16' is 15'10" (without stating my VIN number).

I took the letter to a different licensing agency to make sure that I was starting over again. They looked at the letter, handed it around, sent me to another clerk, then took off $49 in excise tax and told me that I would be getting an amended title in the mail so that I would never have to pay WA excise tax on the boat again because the boat is under 16'.

Excise tax is based on the year and purchase price of your CD 16. It could be up to $100 per year, probably more than some CD 16 owners pay for gas in a year. Other states may also have similar provisions for boats under 16'. I have the letter scanned, so if you have a color printer contact me and I'll email the "To Whom It May Concern" letter to you. Probably too late for most WA owners this year because boats tags expired yesterday. But if you haven't gotten your new tags yet, here is a way to get up to 30 gallons of free gas every year.

Mark
 
Interesting! Never knew that Under-16 was the cutoff, wish I had known that for the 10 years I owned my Arima 16, which was also a 15'11" boat, but just looked at an old registration receipt and turns out I was paying a premium on excise taxes! Fortunately, I just checked my Angler and it is titled as a 15', so the total is only $25/year. I had just figured that low price was because it was so much older than the Arima was. Oh well, I'm sure they must have put my 10 years of unnecessary excise tax to good use!

-Mike
 
Cool that you persisted and got things corrected to what they really are according to the rules. Now you're set, and your work will help others here as well :thup
 
The licensing agent was patient enough to go through my payment amount and itemize the remaining charges now that my excise tax was removed. The two largest fees are the agent's cut ($12) and a "derelict boat" fee ($10) that covers the state's cost for people who just sink/abandon their boats. Every couple of years we have a hull float in along our beach that has been completely stripped, so it's not uncommon. Like dumping garbage along the side of the road, it saves the scoundrel $10 in dump fees and costs several hundred dollars to clean up.

The two remaining charges were the $7 filing fee and $7 for the actual tag, so my new tags are actually the cheapest part.

Mark
 
I just got my new title. The length of my CD 16 is now 15 feet.

Mark
 
As long as the actual boat doesn't shrink :lol:

Great that you prevailed - since you were correct.
 
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