Vermont’s boat tax is not the same math as a car. The Department of Motor Vehicles lists motorboats at 6% on its vehicle taxation table. On a first Vermont registration or validation of a motorboat, personal watercraft, or shuttlecraft, that 6% is Sales & Use Tax unless a listed exemption applies. A Vermont resident who pays $30,000 for a boat with no prior tax credit owes $1,800. An 18-foot Class 1 boat also needs a title at $27 and a one-year registration at $49, for a first-registration stack of $1,876 with no lien. Verify the receipt with Vermont DMV and, for other exemptions, the Vermont Department of Taxes.
How much is Vermont boat sales tax and registration?
Tax, title, and registration are three lines. Tax is 6% of the purchase price on that first registration unless DMV’s exemption list applies. A Vermont dealer can certify on VD-037 that Sales & Use Tax was already collected and paid to the Vermont Tax Department. If nobody collected it, you pay at registration unless you qualify for an exemption. Vermont’s published table puts motorboats in the 6% column next to automobiles, but the motorboat pages do not use the car J.D. Power “greater of price or book” stack. The boat paperwork is invoice, bill of sale, and the exemption list.
| Deal (resident, first Vermont registration, no exemption) | 6% tax | Title (no lien) | 1-year registration | Tax + title + 1-year reg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 boat, 18 feet (Class 1) | $1,800 | $27 | $49 | $1,876 |
| $10,000 personal watercraft, under 16 feet (Class A) | $600 | $27 | $31 | $658 |
Example 1: Resident first registration at $30,000
Scenario: You live in Vermont and buy a used 18-foot runabout for $30,000. No dealer collected tax. No out-of-state invoice shows 6% or more already paid. You are registering it in Vermont for the first time.
The $1,800 is the tax line DMV describes for a first motorboat registration. The $49 is the Class 1 one-year fee printed on VD-037. Two-year Class 1 registration is $93 if you choose that term instead.
Example 2: $10,000 personal watercraft
Scenario: Same resident facts, but the boat is a $10,000 jet ski under 16 feet. First Vermont registration, no exemption.
Personal watercraft sit on the same 6% first-registration rule as motorboats and shuttlecraft. Length still sets the registration class. Under 16 feet is Class A at $31 for one year or $57 for two years.
- Vermont DMV, Registering Your Motorboat — 6% first registration and exemption list
- Vermont DMV, Vehicle Taxation — motorboat row at 6%
- Vermont DMV, form VD-037 — tax (6%) line, title $27, lien $14, class registration fees
The 6% first-registration tax rule
Vermont DMV’s motorboat pages are direct: the first registration or validation of a motorboat, personal watercraft, or shuttlecraft in Vermont is subject to Sales & Use Tax unless an exemption on that list applies. The vehicle taxation table lists Motorboat at 6% with no maximum dollar cap on that row. There is no separate “boat excise” in the materials this page follows. The tax you are estimating is that 6%.
The trigger is the first Vermont registration or validation — not every later sticker. If you already registered the boat in Vermont and you are only renewing, the 6% does not start over. If you are moving a boat onto Vermont paper for the first time, assume 6% unless you match an exemption.
Purchase price is the number on the bill of sale. DMV’s motorboat checklist wants make, year, hull identification number, purchase price, date, and the seller’s signature. That invoice is what the 6% multiplies unless a listed exemption zeros the tax. Do not swap in a car-style J.D. Power clean trade-in comparison. That greater-of-price-or-book rule is the automobile Purchase & Use path, not the motorboat exemption list.
Example 3: Massachusetts dealer invoice at 6.25%
Scenario: You buy from a Massachusetts dealer. The invoice shows 6.25% sales tax paid to that dealer. You then register the boat in Vermont for the first time.
DMV’s list credits an invoice that shows sales tax of 6% or more paid to a dealer in any of the 45 jurisdictions that impose a sales tax. Massachusetts is one of those jurisdictions. Keep the invoice with the VD-037 filing.
Example 4: Bought in New Hampshire by a Vermont resident
Scenario: You live in Vermont and buy the same $30,000 boat in New Hampshire. New Hampshire has no sales and use tax. You bring it home and register it in Vermont.
The same $30,000 boat can be $0 Vermont tax with a qualifying Massachusetts invoice and $1,800 Vermont tax after a New Hampshire purchase. The difference is whether 6% or more already went to a dealer in a sales-tax state.
- Vermont DMV, Taxation of Off-Road Vehicles — motorboat Sales & Use Tax and exemption list
- Vermont DMV, Registering Your Motorboat — AK / MT / DE / NH / OR have no sales and use tax
- Vermont DMV, Vehicle Taxation — Motorboat classified at 6%, no maximum on that row
Dealer, private sale, and trade-in
Who you buy from changes who collects the 6%, not whether the 6% exists. A Vermont dealer may certify on VD-037 that Vermont Sales & Use Tax has been collected from the purchaser and paid to the Vermont Tax Department. That certificate is Section 6 of the form, dealer-only. A private seller cannot run that certification. On a private sale you bring the bill of sale and pay at registration unless you are exempt.
VD-037 also has a tax-credit block in Section 7: purchase price, tax credit, net taxable cost, then tax at 6%. Completing that block is how you claim a credit or a transfer of registration. It is not a published boat trade-in formula. Vermont’s car Purchase & Use path has its own trade rules. For boats, this page does not subtract a trade-in from the $30,000 or $10,000 examples. If you traded a boat toward this one, ask the Vermont Department of Taxes whether a credit applies before you treat the net as the taxable base.
Example 5: Vermont dealer collects the 6%
Scenario: A Vermont dealer sells you a $30,000 boat, collects $1,800, and certifies on VD-037 that the tax was paid to the Tax Department. You still title and register.
The dealer certificate stops a second 6% at the counter. It does not erase title or registration. Bring the completed VD-037 and the usual title documents.
Example 6: Private sale, no trade credit assumed
Scenario: You buy a $30,000 boat from a private owner. You also sold your old boat for $8,000 the same week. Nobody at DMV has told you that sale is a boat tax credit.
If the Tax Department or DMV later allows a credit on Section 7, the net taxable cost changes. Until that is confirmed for boats, do not take an $8,000 haircut off the 6%.
- Vermont DMV, form VD-037 — Section 6 dealer tax certification; Section 7 purchase price, tax credit, net taxable cost, tax (6%)
- Vermont Department of Taxes — 802-828-2551 for exemptions other than the listed motorboat paths
No local overlay
Vermont does not add a town or county sales tax on top of the motorboat 6%. The DMV boat tax list is statewide. A $30,000 first registration is $1,800 in Burlington and $1,800 in a small town. Local property tax on a boat, marina charges, and lake association fees are different bills. They are not a local sales-tax overlay on VD-037.
Example 7: Same $30,000 boat, two Vermont addresses
Scenario: Two Vermont residents buy identical $30,000 boats. One lives in Burlington. One lives in a smaller town. First registration, no exemption.
Registration class still follows length, not town. Both boats, if 18 feet, use Class 1 fees from VD-037.
Example 8: $10,000 personal watercraft, same statewide 6%
Scenario: A $10,000 personal watercraft registered for the first time from either address.
If someone quotes a “county boat tax,” ask which office prints it. It is not on Vermont DMV’s motorboat tax list.
- Vermont DMV, Registering Your Motorboat — statewide first-registration tax, no local add-on listed
- Vermont DMV, Vehicle Taxation — single 6% motorboat rate
Title and registration fees
VD-037 prints the motorboat registration schedule and the title line. Title is $27 plus $14 per lien. Replacement registration is $3 on form VL-040. Transfer to a boat in the same class or a smaller class is $6. Transfer to a larger class is $6 plus the difference in the registration fee.
Length classes match 23 V.S.A. § 3304 as quoted on the Registering Your Motorboat page: Class A less than 16 feet; Class 1 from 16 feet to under 26 feet; Class 2 from 26 feet to under 40 feet; Class 3 40 feet and over.
| Motorboat class (length) | One year | Two years |
|---|---|---|
| Class A — less than 16 feet | $31 | $57 |
| Class 1 — 16 feet to under 26 feet | $49 | $93 |
| Class 2 — 26 feet to under 40 feet | $80 | $155 |
| Class 3 — 40 feet and over | $153 | $303 |
Paperwork depends on whether the boat is titleable. A new boat needs the original manufacturer’s certificate of origin, a bill of sale, and any extra bill of sale DMV lists. A used titled boat needs the original title, lien releases, and a bill of sale. A used boat that was never titled needs the last registration certificate and every bill of sale after that. Non-titleable boats can use a bill of sale with hull identification number, make, year, date, price, and seller signature; the seller’s signature in Section 5B of VD-037; or a copy of an out-of-state registration in your name.
Example 9: 30-foot Class 2, one year, one lien
Scenario: First Vermont registration of a 30-foot boat purchased for $40,000. One lienholder. No tax exemption.
Two-year Class 2 registration is $155 if you want that term. Tax stays $2,400 either way.
Example 10: Transfer to a same-class boat, no new 6%
Scenario: You already registered a Class 1 boat in Vermont. You sell it and buy another Class 1 boat. You are transferring registration, not creating a first Vermont registration of a never-registered vessel. Tax on the new boat still depends on whether this is that boat’s first Vermont registration.
Renewal of a boat already first-registered in Vermont is a registration fee, not another 6%. Buying a different boat that Vermont has never registered is a first registration of that boat. Read the transaction type on VD-037: new, transfer, renew, or title only.
- Vermont DMV, form VD-037 — class fees, title $27, $14 per lien, $6 transfer, $3 replacement
- Vermont DMV, Registering Your Motorboat — titleable vs non-titleable documents; Class A–3 definitions
Gifts, nonresidents, out-of-state tax, and documented vessels
DMV’s motorboat exemption list is short and specific. If you fit one of these paths, first-registration tax is $0. If you do not, the 6% applies unless the Vermont Department of Taxes approves a different exemption.
- A purchase invoice shows sales tax of 6% or more paid to a dealer in a jurisdiction that imposes a sales tax. Alaska, Montana, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Oregon do not.
- You are a nonresident and you bought the boat outside Vermont while a nonresident.
- You are a nonresident, you bought the boat in Vermont, but you received title or possession (or both) in another state.
- You are a nonresident and you submit a copy of a valid registration from your home state.
- The boat transferred to you for no consideration — relative or not.
Any other exemption claim needs Tax Department approval at 802-828-2551. That includes stories that sound like exemptions but are not on the list: a cheap family sale with some money changing hands, a military move with no home-state registration copy, or a federal document with no matching DMV exemption.
A federally documented vessel can change whether Vermont issues a registration or a validation sticker. It does not automatically zero the 6%. Tax still follows the DMV list. If you are documented and you think you are exempt, match a listed path or call the Tax Department. Do not assume $0 because the Coast Guard issued papers.
Example 11: Gift for no consideration
Scenario: A parent transfers a $25,000 boat to an adult child. No money, no assumed loan, no other payment. The child registers it in Vermont.
The exemption is “no consideration,” not “family.” A transfer to a non-relative for $0 is on the same list. A $1 “gift” with cash on the side is not the same fact pattern. If money or a loan moved, ask DMV and the Tax Department before you claim $0.
Example 12: Nonresident with a home-state registration
Scenario: You are not a Vermont resident. You already have a valid registration from your home state. You need Vermont credentials for the waters you use here.
Two other nonresident paths also sit on the list: bought outside Vermont while a nonresident, and bought in Vermont but received title or possession in another state. Pick the path that matches what actually happened. Do not stack a story that is not true.
- Vermont DMV, Registering Your Motorboat — five listed exemptions
- Vermont DMV, Taxation of Off-Road Vehicles — same list; Sales & Use questions to the Tax Department
- Vermont DMV, form VD-037 / VD-037i — other exemptions require Tax Department approval, 802-828-2551; federal document may affect registration vs validation
How to calculate Vermont boat tax
Walk the deal in this order. Stop when an exemption applies. Do not mix in car Purchase & Use book value.
- Confirm this is a motorboat, personal watercraft, or shuttlecraft, and that you are doing a first Vermont registration or validation of that vessel.
- If it is only a renewal of a boat Vermont already first-registered, tax is $0; pay the class registration fee.
- If the transfer was for no consideration, tax is $0; still budget title and registration.
- If you are a nonresident on a listed path (home-state registration, bought outside Vermont, or bought in Vermont with title or possession received elsewhere), tax is $0 on that path.
- If a dealer invoice shows 6% or more paid in a sales-tax state — not Alaska, Montana, Delaware, New Hampshire, or Oregon — tax is $0.
- Otherwise multiply purchase price by 6%.
- Add title $27, $14 per lien if a lien is recorded, and the class registration fee for the term you choose.
- If you believe some other exemption applies, call the Vermont Department of Taxes at 802-828-2551 before you pay 6% or claim $0.
Example 13: Walkthrough — $22,000 pontoon, Class 1, no exemption
Scenario: Vermont resident, private purchase, first Vermont registration, 22-foot pontoon, no lien, one-year registration.
Two-year Class 1 registration would replace the $49 with $93 and raise the stack to $1,440. Tax stays $1,320.
Example 14: Walkthrough — $22,000 pontoon with a qualifying out-of-state invoice
Scenario: Same boat and length, but the dealer invoice shows 6% paid in a sales-tax state.
If that invoice were from New Hampshire, Step 5 fails and you return to Step 6: $1,320 tax plus $76 in title and one-year Class 1 fees.
- Vermont DMV motorboat exemption list on Registering Your Motorboat
- Vermont DMV, form VD-037 — 6% tax line and fee schedule
What this page does not estimate
This page estimates the 6% first-registration tax from DMV’s motorboat list, plus the title and class registration dollars printed on VD-037. It does not replace DMV or the Tax Department. Several real costs are left for those offices because they are not a published motorboat dollar in the materials this page uses.
- Boat-specific trade-in math — Section 7 has a tax-credit line; the Tax Department confirms whether your trade qualifies.
- Dealer documentation charges — not a statutory boat cap in these sources.
- Late penalties, storage, or marina bills.
- Trailer tax, title, and plates — those follow motor-vehicle rules, not VD-037.
- A military exemption that is not on the motorboat list — ask the Tax Department.
- Inheritance that is not a no-consideration transfer — probate paperwork goes to DMV; tax questions go to 802-828-2551.
- Car Purchase & Use extras such as J.D. Power greater-of-price, the new-vehicle warranty line, or automobile plate prices. Those belong on a car estimate, not this boat page.
Example 15: Trailer is a different office path
Scenario: You buy a $30,000 boat and a $4,000 trailer in the same weekend.
Do not fold the trailer into the boat 6% and do not fold the boat into a car tag quote.
Example 16: Other exemption, not on the printed list
Scenario: You believe a nonprofit, trust, or other special status should zero the tax. It is not one of the five motorboat bullets.
Until that office approves it, do not write $0 on a guess.
Two complete buying examples
Example 17: Complete deal — Vermont resident, $30,000 Class 1 boat
Scenario: Private purchase. First Vermont registration. 18-foot used boat. No lien. One-year registration. No out-of-state tax invoice. Not a gift. Vermont resident.
Bring the bill of sale with hull identification number, make, year, price, date, and seller signature, plus title documents for a used titled boat. If a Vermont dealer had already collected the $1,800, the tax line at DMV should be already paid — title and registration remain.
Example 18: Complete deal — New Hampshire purchase vs Massachusetts invoice
Scenario: Same $30,000, 18-foot Class 1 boat, Vermont resident, first registration, no lien, one-year term. Compare a New Hampshire purchase with a Massachusetts dealer invoice at 6.25%.
The boat did not change. The invoice did. That is the out-of-state trap Vermont DMV warns about when it names Alaska, Montana, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Oregon as states with no sales and use tax.
Common questions
Is Vermont boat tax the same as car Purchase & Use?
The published rate is the same 6%, and motorboats sit on the vehicle taxation table in that 6% column. The motorboat pages call the first-registration charge Sales & Use Tax and they use a boat exemption list. They do not tell you to tax the greater of price or J.D. Power. Use the boat list.
Do I pay 6% every time I renew?
No. The tax is tied to first registration or validation in Vermont. A later renewal is the class registration fee on VD-037.
I bought in New Hampshire. Did I already pay?
Not for Vermont’s purposes. New Hampshire has no sales and use tax. A Vermont resident generally owes 6% on first Vermont registration.
I am visiting from another state. Do I owe Vermont 6%?
Many nonresidents are on the exemption list if they have a valid home-state registration, bought outside Vermont while a nonresident, or bought in Vermont but received title or possession elsewhere. Bring the documents that match the path. Do not assume every visitor is taxed, and do not assume every visitor is exempt without the matching paper.
Does a gift to my child avoid tax?
If there is no consideration, DMV lists the transfer as not subject to the tax, relative or not. Title and registration still apply. If any money or a loan is part of the deal, it is not that path.
What about a Coast Guard documented boat?
Documentation can change registration versus validation. It does not, by itself, make tax $0. Stay on the DMV exemption list or ask the Tax Department.
Are personal watercraft taxed differently?
No. First Vermont registration of a personal watercraft is on the same 6% rule. Length still sets Class A–3 fees. A $10,000 PWC with no exemption is $600 tax plus Class A fees if it is under 16 feet.
Who do I call if my situation is not on the list?
Vermont Department of Taxes, 802-828-2551. VD-037i says that office must approve any exemption other than the outlined motorboat list.
Before you sign
Read the bill of sale before you write a check. You want purchase price, date, hull identification number, make, year, and a seller signature you can take to DMV. If a dealer collected tax, get the invoice that shows the rate and the amount. If you are claiming an out-of-state credit, the invoice must show 6% or more paid to a dealer in a sales-tax state — not a no-tax state. If you are a nonresident, bring the home-state registration or the proof of where you took title or possession. If you are receiving the boat for no consideration, say so clearly so nobody treats a $0 transfer as a $30,000 sale.
Then complete VD-037 for new, transfer, renew, or title only. Budget 6% unless you match a listed exemption. Budget title at $27 plus $14 per lien. Budget the class fee for one or two years. Vermont DMV sets the registration and tax collection at the counter. The Vermont Department of Taxes sets questions the motorboat list does not answer.
- Vermont DMV, Registering Your Motorboat — first-registration tax, exemptions, titleable documents, motorboat classes
- Vermont DMV, Taxation of Off-Road Vehicles — motorboat Sales & Use Tax; snowmobile and ATV rules are separate
- Vermont DMV, VD-037 Motorboat Registration or Vessel Validation — application, 6% tax block, title $27, $14 per lien, class fees
- Vermont DMV, Vehicle Taxation — Motorboat at 6%
- Vermont Department of Taxes — 802-828-2551 for exemptions other than the listed motorboat paths
This page estimates Vermont boat Sales & Use Tax at 6% on first motorboat, personal watercraft, or shuttlecraft registration, plus the title and class registration amounts printed on VD-037. Vermont DMV and the Vermont Department of Taxes set the amount you pay.