I cannot say whether I agree or disagree, however. This is simply because, having no qualification to form one, I have no opinion on the legal matters.
Kerry has sailed the boat in Massachusetts, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who declined to be named, although it is unclear how often. The senator has homes in Boston and on Nantucket.
State tax law specialists say that even if the senator sailed in Massachusetts “a fairly low number of times,’’ he could be liable for the taxes.
“If it was in Massachusetts two or three times, it would not surprise me if Department of Revenue went after a boat on that basis,’’ said Joe Donovan, former deputy counsel at the Department of Revenue.
Donovan said the burden would be on Kerry to prove he does not intend to use the boat in Massachusetts, and having property on Nantucket would not help his case.
“When somebody has property down on the islands (Nantucket), it’s natural to assume Massachusetts waters wouldn’t be avoided,’’ Donovan said.
If the senator had not volunteered to pay, Donovan said, collecting the taxes could have taken two years or longer, with all the appeals and court remedies available. (this way Kerry avoided the steady drip of bad publicity)
The state’s senior US senator has been assailed by questions since the Boston Herald reported Friday that he was docking his yacht, Isabel, in Newport, R.I., allowing him to avoid hundreds of thousands of dollars in Massachusetts taxes. Rhode Island rescinded its sales and use tax on boats in 1993, creating a tax haven for yacht owners.
Residents who buy boats out of state but plan to use them in Massachusetts must file a form and pay a use tax, equivalent to the Massachusetts sales tax of 6.25 percent, by the 20th day of the month after they take possession of the boats, according to the Department of Revenue. Kerry filed no such form and paid no such tax. If he docked the yacht in Massachusetts, he would also be subject to a $70,000 annual excise tax, payable to the city or town of that home port.
http://www.myyachtregistration.com/2010/07/kerry-pay-mass-tax-ri-yacht/