So the other day I get an excise tax in the mail for a boat I sold in 2006 from the town where the guy I sold it. Since it's been 4 years (with no excise tax) I immediatly thought shinnanigans from the guy I sold it to or an error in the system.

Turns out that even though I sold the boat, handed over the titile, was registered in new guys name. I'm still on the list for this thing. :wall:

Being the first boat I've ever sold I had no idea there were more steps involved to getting rid of the boat.

NOW
I need to fill out a motorboat status change form (i guess that was supposedto be filled out in 06)

An excise abatement application

and I am supposed to find the bill of sale from 4 years ago!
as well as know what the registration number was for it back then.

Anyone have an idea of what I can do about the status change form when I give up looking for that dumb thing?

Why all of a sudden now I get an excise tax? :wall::wall:

Never heard of such a thing.

I sold my boat to a guy in Sandwich in 2007 and I never received another excise tax bill from my town or any other town. I assume once the new owner registered the boat with the DFWLE the updated records get sent out to the towns.

That's what I was just told at Div of Envir. Law Enforcement.

Now I have to go back to the town tax assessor and see what they have to say about that.

What a mess.

Happened to me from 2002.

did you get this figured out yet?

nope

happened to me a couple years afyer I sold my boat.
I had to find my copy of the bill of sale and mailed it to the town, then told them to bill the correct owner not me. never heard anything after that.

So i would say find your bill of sale.
good luck

The boat should have a serial# stamped in trhe hull, usually on the transom
Maybe that would help you track down the old reistration # ?

I have sold 3 boats and never heard of any of this??
Did the new owner ever title or reg. the boat in his name??

As soon as the new owner titles and reg. the boat, all should be transferred to him.

The boat should have a serial# stamped in trhe hull, usually on the transom
Maybe that would help you track down the old reistration # ?

If I still had the boat it would be :smash:

For all I know it's at the bottom of the ocean somewhere.

Whats an even bigger problem is they way it's logged in the "system"

It thinks that I registered the boat in the town where the dude I sold it to lives.

Just called again and she was asking

"Are you sure you didn't register it here?"

"Have you ever been here with the boat?" no - as if that would even matter.

Just sent the forms back though, some of the info is vague. This is fun.

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I sold my old Mako19 to a guy on this board and years later had a nightmare trying to get Hingham to tak me off the excise tax list. I had no sales tax no anything. Talking to the town did not help.

In order to get it straightened out, I had to go to the offce here where I register my current boat hare in Hyannis and and they did a search for my old registration. From that they got the hull and motor number and searched them in the database. As I ahd thought the boat was registered in RI so it was never in the databose in a way that the town knew there was a new owner. Once I had this proof it was a simple few forms and the ssue went away.

Wow lots of people seem to have this problem. Must be frustrating.

I have sold 2 boats and never heard of this issue???? I can see if the boat is taken out of state or not registered for a couple years after.

Now if you have a boat sitting in your yard that has not been registered and used and you don't plan on using for say 2 more years I believe there is no excise on that.....an inactive unregistered boat.