Mexico Boating Guide Mexico Boating Guide

Pacific Baja, Sea of Cortez, Mainland - all 3 in 1 updated, comprehensive, Mexico cruising guidebook.

MexicoBoating.com

GPS charts of 100s of cruising anchorages too small on govt-issued charts for detail.

Sparky is the Boss Dog Onboard

“Meet Sparky,” said Catalina Island Harbor Patrolman, Jerry Shapiro in an email to the Log “Sparky lives on a 40-foot CHB trawler in Cat Harbor, Catalina Island, with his master, Jerry.

When you arrive in Cat Harbor, call for a mooring assignment on your VHF radio channel 9 and sparky will be happy to greet you and assist you on to a mooring.”

Covers all the marinas, boat yards, fuel docks, sail & engine repairs, chandlers, provisioning, boat storage, 400 pages. Paperwork Cha Cha: Port Captain, Customs, Immigration, Mexican Navy. Diving, fishing, eco boating. TRUSTED.

Written by Pat & John Rains, experienced Mexico cruisers & U.S.C.G. mariners, just for southbound boaters. Mile by mile, no gaps, no fluff. Still $69.95

SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES (800) 887-1615 jon@goboating.com

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From page 6 transaction. Under this method, the percentage of the calendar year that the boat was owned by each party is calculated, and that percentage is applied to the tax assessment for that year. The buyer will then be required to pay that amount to the seller at the closing of the transaction. Note that the seller will be the “taxpayer” for that calendar year regardless of the closing date of the sale, so the buyer’s portion is paid to the seller as a reimbursement, rather than directly to the County.

As evidenced by our reader’s question, there is some confusion over the proper tax year to use for the allocation of property tax. A boat owner’s annual tax bill indicates the fiscal year covered by the bill, which typically spans from July 1st of the current year through June 30th of the following year. However, the legal obligation to pay the tax to the County is assigned to the person who owned the boat on the “assessment date,” which in California is always January 1st . Since the person who owns the boat on January 1st is responsible to the County for the entire year’s property tax payment, the allocation of the tax between buyer and seller should be based upon a calendar year pro-ration.

If the buyer and seller agree to prorate property taxes for the year of the purchase, the closing statement prepared by the broker will spell out the exact amount of the property tax allocation between the parties, but this may not actually be listed in the purchase contract since the CYBA form does not include a place for that amount. This may cause some confusion, but the exact amount may not be available at the time the contract is signed because the parties won’t know the exact

News Briefs

From page 5

Signal will enable us to help service a wider audience and provide the best possible service to boat owners around the world.”

“At Solid Signal, we are always looking for ways to offer our customers the most advanced technology solutions,” said Essa Alijelat, Solid Signal’s Marine closing date until after the completion of the buyer’s survey and satisfaction of other contingencies. The brokers should nonetheless be able to provide an estimate so there are no surprises at closing.

The broker will be prepared for this since, if the purchase is made through a California broker, he or she will be required under California law to specify the applicable tax year in the purchase agreement, as well as the actual pro-rated amounts payable by the seller and buyer.

The question of whether to pro-rate property tax on a boat purchase, and the allocation of that amount between the parties, both fall squarely within the duties of a yacht broker in California. The Broker and Salesperson license examinations conducted by the California Division of Boating and Waterways actually include property tax questions to ensure that the licensees know their way around this issue. Buyers and sellers seeking additional information about their obligations under a purchase agreement should nonetheless talk to a maritime attorney with experience in yacht purchase and sale transactions.

David Weil is licensed to practice law in the state of California and as such, some of the information provided in this column may not be applicable in a jurisdiction outside of California. Please note also that no two legal situations are alike, and it is impossible to provide accurate legal advice without knowing all the facts of a particular situation. Therefore, the information provided in this column should not be regarded as individual legal advice, and readers should not act upon this information without seeking the opinion of an attorney in their home state.

Specialist, in the press release. “Our partnership with The Marine Guardian will allow us to provide our customers with the best insurance-approved vessel security, monitoring, tracking, and surveillance solutions available today.”

For more information on The Marine Guardian, please visit https://www.themarineguardian.com/. For more information on Solid Signal, please visit https:// www.solidsignal.com/.