Owning a cruising boat can be pricey to start with and then expensive to operate on an on-going basis. This is particularly true for boat owners who cannot afford the time to to get the full benefit of the cruising life.
It has no doubt occurred to many of us that running our boats like charter businesses, with income to offset expenses and other benefits of business ownership, would make the whole process more attractive.
But, there are wrinkles to running a charter business on your own, not just with the IRS but with handling bookings, deposits, scheduling and more. Even if you are chartering your boat for only a handful of weeks a year, you’re still running a business and need to treat customers professionally.
All of the charter companies have ownership programs and they will steer you to financial advisors and accountants who know the ropes. But most do not publish this “business” side of owning a charter boat on their websites. But one does.
Atlantic Cruising Yachts uses business ownership expertise as an added benefit of buying boats from them. And, they run regular webinars on how to make this kind of a program work. You may want to work with The Moorings or Sunsail or Dream and they will be happy to help you.
But, if you want a glimpse of how it works, check out the ACY website.
