Skip to main content

Illegal Taxation?

What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue. ~Thomas Paine


Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss. ~Robert Heinlein
From Article 1, section 9 of the United States Constitution:
No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one state over those of another: nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.

I think the writers of our Constitution were being very clear in their intent on that last line.

nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged to enter, clear or pay duties in another.

So how can a Florida registered vessel, owned by a Florida resident, legally be charged duty (property tax) simply because it is temporarily in the waters of the State of Virginia on January 1st?

The Middlesex County tax collector has informed me that Felix's owners will be charged close to $700 because she is going to be located here on January 1st of 2010. How is that not a direct violation of both the intent and literal translation of Article 1, Section 9 of our Constitution?

If any lawyers read this, please explain to me how this can possibly be legal. Also, if Felix is exported from Florida and sold in another state, doesn't this line "No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state." clearly prevent a tax being charged just because it is located in the state on one particular day of the year?

Yes, yes, I know that I have no hope of avoiding the tax even though it seems to be quite obviously in direct violation of both the literal text and intent of our Constitution. Yes, yes I know that the State of Virginia will steamroll right over me because there is probably some esoteric loophole in some arcane state law that supersedes our Federal Constitution. But hey, one of the reasons for writing a blog is to be able to publicly vent when I feel wronged. All five readers can feel my frustration. ;-)

Comments

  1. Alden SmithDecember 15, 2009 at 2:46 PM

    I am a sailor of my own 30 foot home built yacht here in Whangarei New Zealand - I like the quotes you have on your blog as well as your writing itself - love the ones about the tax collectors and Babe Ruths attitude to beer drinking!

    ReplyDelete
  2. sneaks like deerDecember 17, 2009 at 9:56 AM

    if you don't pay the tax, what are they going to do to you? they can't take the boat,they cant stop you from getting your license renewed or tags on your vehicle renewed because you are not a resident of Virginia.I say screw the tax man and don't pay it.Go back to Florida and laugh at them.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Hope you enjoy the blog, please feel free to leave comments!

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventure always continues...

This is the Blog of the Sailing Vessel Felix. Felix has been sold, so I probably won't update the blog much more, just leave it here for posterity and start another one. This blog was primarily the record of our trip from North Lake Worth, Florida up to the Chesapeake Bay and our summer there before moving back to Florida. Because Blogger won't let me rearrange the posts into chronological order, it has to be this 'latest post first' format, here is the link to the beginning of the journey . You'll just have to select the posts by month and read in reverse order. I hope you enjoy, and I'll post up the new blog here whenever and wherever it begins. Thanks
2 comments
Read more

I may be slow, but at least I'm honest

"My Karma ran over your dogma."- Anonymous This one goes in the "true, but hard to believe" file. We were at West Marine this morning picking up bottom paint and a few other items when we noticed a black pouch on the floor by the checkout counter. I picked it up and told the girl at the register "It looks like somebody dropped their pouch, if there's any money in there it's mine!" I flipped it open and there was a wad of $100's!!! About 150 of them!! No I.D, nothing else. My name's not Earl, but I know when Karma is testing me, and we gave the pouch over to the manager to put in the safe while we tried to track down who lost the pouch. The most likely customer was a German guy who had just bought a dinghy, but the store didn't have any contact info for him, just a vague idea that he was leaving soon on a boat he just bought, and he may be at a local marina. We drove over to the marina where they thought he may be, and sure enough two ...
1 comment
Read more

Pine Island to Fernandina

Sunday was spent idling around the boat taking care of small projects, both of us moving a little slowly after a great time Saturday night with Fred and the acrobatic Rick from 'Freedom'. Pine Island has such a snug little anchorage it was a great place to hang out and avoid the Sunday boat traffic and we were able to scrape the waterline of 4 inch long grass and miniature barnacles that have accumulated already. Star made good on her promise of making my favorite dish after we crossed north of our starting point in St. Augustine. Lapin a la moutarde . For those like me who don't ' parlez vous ' very well, that's Rabbit in mustard sauce. Today we were underway at 7:15 heading north with a couple of stopping options available, but we were staying flexible and had no certain destination. We crossed the St. Johns River and transited the Sister's Creek area at low tide and were on a just barely rising tide for the notoriously shoaling Nassau Sound area. To say ...
5 comments
Read more