The new federal tax law could be some very good news if you’re thinking about buying a boat for a charter business. Under the new law, if you buy a new or brokerage boat from Jan.1 of this year through 2022 and use it in a charter or other business activity, you can score some significant tax savings. You may even be able to deduct the whole purchase price, plus improvements.
According to interpretations of the new law from United Yacht Sales and Bluewater Yacht Sales, it has some fairly dramatic, and lucrative, benefits for boat owners. The details: You must purchase the new or used boat through a legal entity – a corporation, partnership or LLC. And you must use it for a business – charter, fishing, whatever.
But it those requirements are met, you can write off 100 percent of the purchase price as “bonus depreciation” in the year you buy the boat. That same depreciation applies to any improvements you make – putting in a Seakeeper gyrostabilizer or a new electronics suite, for example – also in the same year as the purchase. And there is no dollar limit to the purchase price.
For more good news, you can use the bonus depreciation to generate a deductible loss in the year of purchase to offset ordinary taxable income from other sources. Read more:
https://www.unitedyacht.com/new-tax-law-buying-a-yacht-may-also-be-a-smart-tax-move/
