Finding wi-fi
Crew can stay connected in Ft. Lauderdale.
B1
Coming ashore Storm detours Hurricane changes yachts’ courses. B1 Vol.8, No. 7
www.the-triton.com
Desirable traits follow crew to land jobs. C1 October 2011
AvMar begins withholding U.S. taxes from foreign crew By Lucy Chabot Reed Ft. Lauderdale-based AvMar Payroll Services, one of the industry’s largest yacht crew payroll companies, has begun withholding U.S. income taxes from foreign crew while working on vessels in the United States. The practice runs in the face of longstanding traditions of non-resident yacht crew not paying tax on their yacht income, and some worry it could open yacht crew to a whole host of problems. “I’m concerned about this on two levels: immigration and hiring,” said the
non-U.S. captain of a 130-foot Cayman Islands-flagged yacht based year-round in Florida. This captain, who asked not to be named, processes payroll for his crew of eight non-U.S. crew through AvMar and is worried. “The boat spends eight months in the U.S.,” he said. “I was told by AvMar that the crew had to prove they were not in the United States more than six months. That will raise immigration issues. And I’m concerned that hiring future crew will be tough when I tell them that 15-20 percent of your income will be in taxes. They’ll just go to another boat so my
labor pool has just shrunk.” The method of paying crew varies depending on the yacht, the owner, the individual crew member and the payroll process used. Many captains choose to operate as independent contractors, legally giving their employer a way to not withhold tax, with the presumption being that the contractor’s company will withhold and pay taxes to the appropriate taxing authority. However, many common yachting countries don’t require their residents to pay taxes on income they earn in other countries, so yacht crew from the
UK, France and Australia enjoy tax-free income while working in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and United States. And that’s legal, at least from their country’s perspective. But it’s not legal in the United States, according to tax attorney Glen Stankee, an international tax partner with Akerman Senterfitt, the largest law firm in Florida and the legal opinion behind AvMar’s recent methodology. “If you are here [in the United States] more than 183 days, you are treated
See TAXES, page A18
Yacht accidents leave mark on captains’ careers
Amy Beavers carries a positive attitude and a sense of humor. “No pun PHOTO/DORIE COX intended but dialysis is draining.”
Battling kidney disease, Amy Beavers finds life at MPT By Dorie Cox Amy Beavers is surrounded by most of the things that are important to her when she’s at work at Maritime Professional Training Institute in Ft. Lauderdale. From behind her desk in a wideopen office space, she can see her sister and her best friend from high school. Often her husband and brother walk through as well as students and instructors. And behind her is a binder with a neon pink label, “Amy Kidney”. As vice president of student administration at MPT, Beavers, 42,
has spent more than half her life working at the school founded by her parents in 1983. Beavers is the round, smiling face behind the counter that people come to for answers about licensing, U.S. Coast Guard requirements and the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFRs). “She’s the go-to-encyclopedia,” Eng. Don Clark, a close friend and former student, said. “I would say she’s touched nine out of 10 lives in the industry.” “She was around when there was no other place to go for answers,”
See BEAVERS, page A20
Yacht captains often are fired after the yacht they run is involved in a crash, fire or sinking. At this month’s Triton From the Bridge luncheon, we asked what kind of mark an accident leaves on a career in yachting. “You’re fired,” From the Bridge a captain said. “I Dorie Cox know it happens because I’ve taken over on such a yacht within 24 hours.” As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A16. To avoid debates of fault or cause, we defined an accident as an unplanned or unforeseen event and we kept the conversation to any generic occurrence.
TRITON SURVEY Hurricane Irene brought tropical storms to mind this month. Does the yacht’s insurance require it to be outside of a storm box (a certain latitude) by a certain date? – Story, C1
“I would say most guys get fired,” another captain said. “I personally know two; I got called to work on one boat.” A third captain said he had heard of many captains fired, but that it depends on the owner. “When they are immediately fired, post event, it can be a temperamental situation,” he said. “It depends how involved the owner is with the boat.” Several captains in the industry for decades said that firing is not always the case. “Twenty-five years ago, you went on a bigger boat,” one said. The veterans recollected stories of corporate yachts that retained their captains no matter what happened. “If you’re a company person, you stay employed,” one of the veterans said. “If you’re on your own, you’re out of work. If you’re a team player, they’ll
See BRIDGE, page A16
Yes – 34.4% No – 65.6%