What savvy yacht owners have known for years – Section 179 of the Tax Code

Owning a new yacht is a great experience and the fun of owning it shouldn't be diminished by the difficulty of paying for it. For years savvy yacht buyers have recognized that there is a completely legitimate way to significantly reduce the cost of owning a yacht by structuring ownership in a manner that allows you to write-off the purchase price of your yacht and deduct most ownership expenses (insurance, slip fee, maintenance) against your employment income. This can be done by placing the yacht in charter while still having it available for your use and following some basic tax law guidelines. In addition to providing a tax shelter, your yacht will also generate charter income to help offset ownership expenses.

Read our detailed information on how you can place your new yacht into a local charter here in California, here.

Your Boat As A Business – The Shared Economy

First, let's discuss the tax benefits of placing a yacht in charter and then we’ll discuss whether this will work for you. The key to understanding why yachts placed in charter can generate significant tax benefits is that these are the same tax benefits available to businesses for the purchase of business equipment.

By placing your new yacht in a charter management program you are converting it from a personal asset to a business asset, essentially an equipment rental business. The relationship between you and the charter management company is structured so that you own the yacht and they assist you in managing your yacht rental business.

At Cruising Yachts we have been placing new yachts in charter for years and have seen these yacht owners reduce the costs of purchasing and owning their yacht by OVER 50% in many cases through a combination of tax deductions and charter income. Actual savings vary depending on the size of the yacht and the location in which it is placed in charter. Read more.

Offshore delivery removes sales tax!

If you take possession of your new yacht offshore, you will not be required to pay California sales tax. On a $500,000 yacht that saving is $40,000 using an approximate sales tax rate of 8%.

Your new yacht will have to remain outside of California for one year from the date you receive title. Contact one of our sales agents at your closest Cruising Yachts office location to find out more.

Cruising Yachts lists and sells more pre-cruised brokerage yachts than any other yacht dealer or broker on the West Coast. Here are just some of the advantages you get when you list or buy your yacht with us:

What is your Yacht Worth?

If you are preparing to sell your yacht, call our office nearest you to speak to a member of our sales team or fill in and submit the form below and we will be in contact with you. We’ll provide you with a market based valuation of your yacht and the most recent comps. Our professional sales staff is ready to go to work for you today to sell your yacht quickly and efficiently. If we can’t find a buyer for your yacht on terms acceptable to you, we don’t get paid.

Read our in-depth information on Preparing your yacht for sale.

Online and print advertising

Industry statistics show that over 90% of all yacht buyers start their search on the Internet. We have one of the most extensive Internet advertising programs in the industry and your boat will appear on many of the top boat listing websites such as, but not limited to:

www.Yachtworld.com | www.Boats.com | www.Yachtsforsale.com | www.Boatquest.com | www.Sailboatlistings.com | TheLog.com

Your boat will appear on our website, cruisingyachts.net. Our site averages over 6,000 UNIQUE visitors a month and is one of the highest ranked sites on the Internet of any yacht dealer or broker in California. We spend THOUSAND OF DOLLARS every month to market our website and our brokerage listings.

Your boat will appear monthly in print publications such as Yachts for Sale, Latitude 38, and occasionally in others such as The Log – ask one of our salespersons to see our ads.