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Barbara Ford-Coates - Florida Tax Collector serving Sarasota County
Exceptional Staff - Exceptional Service

Bringing a Vessel to Florida

Out-of-State Title Transfer
Florida law requires a vessel be registered within ten days if the owner becomes employed, places children in school or establishes residency (applying for homestead property tax exemption or registering to vote).

Requirements

  1. Photo Identification - All registered owners must be present with photo ID to transfer a title. The only acceptable forms of ID are:
  • A valid Florida, out-of-state, U.S. territory, or Canadian driver's license
  • A valid state issued photo ID
  • A valid government issued passport
  1. Original Title - The original title must be presented if you are from a state (or D.C.) listed below. If your previous state is not listed or you are making payments on your vessel, we will need your most current vessel registration, payment book if you have one, loan account number, and the fax number for the title department of your lending institution.
  2. Sales Tax - If your vessel was purchased less than six months ago, bring the bill of sale or invoice; Florida sales tax may apply.

Important Notices:
Trust - If the title will be issued in the name of a trust, copies of the official trust must be presented.

Business - If the title will be issued in a business name, proof the business is registered in in the state where business is conducted, the FEI number, and payment of the Business Tax, if applicable, will be required.

All documents and a checklist can be viewed by downloading the Vessel Title Packet.

The following issue vessel titles:

CaliforniaMissouriPennsylvania
District of ColumbiaMontanaRhode Island
FloridaNebraskaSouth Carolina
IllinoisNevadaSouth Dakota
IndianaNew JerseyTexas
IowaNew MexicoUtah
KentuckyNew YorkVermont
MarylandNorth Carolina (opt.)Virginia
MassachusettsOhioWashington
MichiganOklahomaWest Virginia
MinnesotaOregonWisconsin
Mississippi