Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

OK, I bought my 1st boat a few weeks back. It's a 2008 14' Weld-craft basic Jon boat with a 2005 25 hp. Yamaha. I called the Indiana BMV today to ask what I needed to do to get this boat registered and what it would cost. She told me I'd be looking at $18 for the yearly registeration and $200 for God knows what (something do do with the year of the boat?) I tried to look it up and can't find what the last two BMV girls are talking about. This is all I can find. https://myweb.in.gov/BMV/mybmvportal/PlatesAndRegistrations/RegistrationFees/WatercraftFees.aspx
I can't pay $220 a year for a boat that cost me $750. It just doesnt seem right. Is this normal?
please help.. I feel something MUST be wrong. It's a JON BOAT!

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

Does Indiana have "Personal Property Tax"? If so, that's what the fee is and it will decrease each year as the "Book Value" of the boat decreases. If not, then I dunno?

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

And I thought NJ was bad!..... Spent $140 today at the MVC to flip title, reg boat and trailer..... next year it's $28 for each reg. and thats a 21' boat and trailer.....

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

Doesn't seem right. Even if Indiana does have a personal property tax, $220 for a boat that cost $750 just seems too much. I just registered a 2005 19' bowrider in Ohio and it cost me $48....and it's good for 3 years. The trailer registration is separate, and that's due annually, but still only $22. The only thing that I hate about the trailer registration is that it's due on my birthday....so even though I registered the trailer in May 2011, it's only good until August 2011 before I need to re-register.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

I'd call back or go down face to face because that just dosen't sound right to me. I just registerd boat and trailer including title transfer and it was $100 here in florida.

Art

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

you have to pay sales tax once and excise tax every year here in Indiana... FYI my 10' jet boat is registered in Tennessee $35 for 3 years and my 28'er will be coast guard documented as a Kentucky vessel just because Indiana is so dang expensive

BTW my 28'er would be nearly $400 a year here but through the coast guard it is gonna be like $150 ONCE for as long as I own it... Kentucky calls that good enough but Indiana would still charge me the excise tax every year...

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

i was going to say the sales tax thing. Indiana is great at collecting taxes for any reason. 200$ seems really high to me tho. i paid 350$ for a '99 caravelle 176 last year at bmv

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

It's gotta be just a sales tax, maybe they heard the year wrong or something, I know here they base tax on book value for cars, not the price you actually pay.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

noooo we also have to pay excise tax every year which is based on the value of the boat when new... it sux

then there is the lake enhancement fee, also when we get to the lake, if it's in a state park then there is a annual launch fee too

I hate Indiana

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

smokeonthewater said:

noooo we also have to pay excise tax every year which is based on the value of the boat when new... it sux

then there is the lake enhancement fee, also when we get to the lake, if it's in a state park then there is a annual launch fee too

I hate Indiana

Click to expand...

$200/year is more than a tad excessive. All I can say is...Ouch! My dad bought a truck in Indiana a couple years back and they hounded him for months about some tax they wanted him to pay for taking it out of the state. Minnesota is the 4th highest taxed state but at least it's more hidden than that.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

All I can say is "I am glad I dont live in Indiana", I would almost have to give up boating.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

That is a one time thing, they got me on it too.

The first time I registered my boat they ask me how much it was new, it was 20 years old at the time so I didn't know, they of coarse had it on file somewhere and you pay a fee on that btu it was just that once from now on it shoudl just be the $18.

I think mine is $42, as Van Halen says, they got you coming in, they got you go out.

Where do you fish there in Mishiwaka?

I am usually on top of the twin branch dam somewhere.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

smokeonthewater said:

noooo we also have to pay excise tax every year which is based on the value of the boat when new... It sux

then there is the lake enhancement fee, also when we get to the lake, if it's in a state park then there is a annual launch fee too

i hate indiana

Click to expand...

so do i... Want to move to tennesse

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

I think you've been misinformed. You need to check into the Indiana Codes online for more details--IC 6-6-11-10 specifically states a Boat Excise Tax is levy'd according to the cost of the boat new. On your jon boat without motor, you're talking $6 per year. I think you'd just need to document the sales price to the state when the boat is registered.

You have the regular registration fees and a 6% sales tax on boats that are new in Indiana.

I'm fortunate that Alabama doesn't have any ad valorem taxes on boats or trailers. If you saw how low our property taxes are, you'd be shocked. My wife is disabled, and we don't even have any property taxes on our main residence. The cost of living in the South is how I was able to retire in my 50's--and not pay all my income to "the government." I feel so bad for the citizens of Michigan, New Jersey, New York, etc.--as they'll have to work until they're 75 years old to pay taxes and for houses that cost twice or three times more than they're worth. All I say is: MOVE TO TENNESSEE, FLORIDA OR TEXAS for reasonable cost of living and HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE. Our lakes are incredible, also.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

Paint your boat all black and become an Indiana pirate. Take the law head-on!



uh, just kidding in case someone gets offended by pirate jokes

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

Could that be back taxes? I know here in SC you have to pay any unpaid taxes from the previous owner. My Toon was over $900 the first year in property tax, 635 for the boat and about 360 for the motor. Last year that dropped to about 700 total.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

folks, I didn't guess.... I've played this game

Indiana charges: sales tax on the purchase price once
excise tax (comparable to property tax) based on price when new and age every year
lake enhancement fee every year
registration fee every year

Also there will be title fees when the title is transferred

What's getting him is that the boat is fairly new but he bought it for very cheap so the excise tax is higher than he would expect.

back taxes don't follow the vehicle to the new owner in indiana

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

When I got mine the stickers were only a month or 2 old so I used them all year and renewed the next, they were not ammused, I had to pay the previous years reg plus the current year, apparently you can't not plate a vehicle for a year.

Got me curious so I just checked mine, for a 16' Sea Nymph with a 50 horse, 1981 I paid $28 county tax-$5 DNR fee-$15 Lake enhancment fee for a total of $48 bucks.

It is kinda funny how they call it a "fee" though.

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

oh yeah... forgot the dnr fee

O/P if you can swap that boat off for another that is 20 years older you'll save a BUNDLE each year

Re: Are you kidding me!!! I thought gas was expensive.

Wow what a ripoff.
My New Mexico reg for THREE years was $68, my trailer reg for three years was $18. I have my primary residence and another house in NM, so I maintain my drivers' license and reg's for all my veihicles there. I'm working in Utah who would want quadruple those #'s per year if I registered them here.