Re: Need Help with purchase in GA/SC...
Hi, I am new to the forum and am about to buy my first boat.
I live in Evans, GA and am going to drive about 10 miles away and buy a boat in SC. I have only purchased my cars at dealers in the past, and the boat will be from an individual. I will be paying cash. How do I pay taxes? Is there anyway to minimize taxes? And the tag? Do I go to the same place as my car? And we were looking at State Farm for insurance, does anyone have any advice? Any imput would be nice, I can barely see straight after all of this online research.
From the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division's website:
"I bought a boat from someone and want to register it in my name. What do I need to do?
You must submit a notarized or witnessed copy of the bill of sale AND the previous owner's boat registration card. If the boat was registered in another state that titles vessels, you must also submit the title from the previous owner."
I don't see how SC will become involved in the transfer of your boat and trailer since who is going to tell them? Your concern will be with two Georgia agencies: the Wildlife Resources people for the boat and the Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Division for the trailer. The boat registration is cheap: $36 will buy a 16'-26' registration for three years (price will vary if smaller than 16' or larger than 26').
Trailer tags run either $12 year or you can buy a permanent one for $48 (the permanent tag requires "ad valorem" taxes to be paid every February... I have no idea what that involves). No title is needed or even offered for a boat trailer in GA. As others have said, you'll need to go to the county tag office for the county in which you live.
From the GA Dept of Revenue's website:
"New requirement: If you are applying for a tag only because a Georgia title is not required & your vehicle is currently registered in a non-title state/country, you must submit the vehicle's original valid registration certificate, issued in your name or properly assigned to you. If the registration was not issued in your name & there are no spaces for transferring ownership, original signed bills of sale must be submitted establishing a complete & correct chain of ownership from the registered owner up through you, the current owner. You
must also submit an original
Certificate of Inspection, form T-22B, completed & signed by a Georgia law enforcement officer, your Georgia County Tag Agent, or his/her designated employee, after he/she makes a visual inspection of your vehicle's ID plate, a/k/a serial plate. Any officer completing the
Certificate of Inspection, form T-22B, must query the G.C.I.C., Georgia Crime Information Center, to determine if the vehicle is stolen & he/she shall indicate that the query was made on the face of the form T-22B. This form will not be accepted if it is incomplete or contains alterations or erasures."
Hopefully that'll get you taken care of. If you live in a border county your tag office will be used to this kind of transaction and hopefully things won't get FUBAR. There are two things I STRONGLY suggest:
1) Don't buy anything you haven't gotten to test out on the water with a decent ride. Pay attention to the deck and transom for softness, and how much water comes out the drain plug at the end. If there's anything the guy says would be easy to fix, you need to wonder why he didn't do it if it's actually easy? 2) Collect as much identifying information from the owner as you can... home phone, cell phone, home address, etc. Once he's got your money he has little motivation to help you later if there's a snag. You'll need to be able to find him.
Good luck with this purchase. I hope it goes well for you.
