Conference unifix::sailing

    
>>	"Dear Mr. Sera:
>>
>>	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has ruled that freight, rig, launch,
>>	commissioning and installations are taxable items and has enforced it

    WHO ?????     The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ???
    
    

        Seeing how happy you are with Wells, ask yourself this question:
    
      Will I ever go back there and buy another boat?
    
         If not, tell the bookeeper to go pound sand. They should have
    either taken the money out and put it into escove ahead of time,
    or at least told you about such a potential problem. Tell them to
    take it out of the profit margin which must be quite high since
    the quality of their workmanship proves they hire fools. It isn't
    worth the $200 bucks for these bozos to get a lawyer, so they 
    probably will just eat the cost. 
    
        I can't beleive somebody who sells big ticket items like this
    would bother their clients for a 5% tax on an item from 5 years
    ago. It boggles the mind. When this is over, I would love to know
    how much much money they collect, and how much bad will they create.
    (i.e. Friends may come, and friends may go, but enemies just 
    accumulate)
    
       john
           

Re: < Note 748.2 by AKOV11::KALINOWSKI >

My sentiments exactly...

I tried to call the Attorney General's and several other Consumer Protection
and legal phone numbers (727-8400, 655-4533 - listed on phone book but
a record store answers, 396-5500, 284-3600, 727-4661, 727-4662, 620-1830,
626-8585, 800-392-6164) and I have been forwarded all over the place...
I cant get an answer to this. Unbelievable !!! Is this the way we as consumers
get protection ??? Any further suggestions would be appreciated. I'm about
to ignore Wells' letter and TRY to forget the whole incident.

							-Al-

    Better pay up.  This is part of Dukakis's plan to get more revenue
    without increasing taxes (YOU vote for him for president if you
    want).  I had the same experience.  The Mass Department of Taxation
    and Revenue is going back and looking at every ST-6 (sales tax on
    a marine vehicle form) and collecting collecting revenue on freight,
    etc. that wasn't taxed before.  I don't know how retroactive they're
    going to get, but my boat was purchased in 1986 and they nailed
    me.  
    
    The reason why you would have to pay Wells is that they filed the
    ST-6 instead of you.  However, YOU are liable . . . it's your boat.
    These guys (Mass. DOR) are serious about this and have been slapping
    tax leins on boats and impounding them until the lein is paid. 
    
    I believe your only recourse is legal action against The Commonwealth.
    If the boat hauling company used is not based in Massachusetts and
    it was manufactured out of state, you might have a case.  Of course,
    it's going to cost you more for attorneys than the $200 they're
    after.  Then again, a class action suit might just  . . .

    
    
    It looks like there are two issues, the tax and the dealership.
    I agree with the previous replise that said "pay the tax".  But
    if you have documentation of bad workmanship that you had to repair,
    you might try to collect for that.

    What exactly is it that is taxable now?  Just freight, or
    rigging/commissioning work?   Having bought an O'Day, I had no
    freight since it was made in Fall River.
    
    Rick
    
    *  Who does not need another bill right now..

Re: < Note 748.6 by RDF::RDF "Rick Fricchione" >

If you saw the original sales agreement and purchase order you would find
that the 5% Mass tax was computed on the yacht and options total. Following
there is another itemization section which contains the bottom painting,
freight, rig, launch and commissioning total. Ther was no 5% computed for
those services. The law explicitly states and includes "services and labor"
as taxable. I never even noticed/questioned the invoice until now.

I finally got thru to the Mass Sales Dpt. (for boats) and the person (by
the way, very rude) indicated that he has not seen any new laws coming
up recently in this area.

To top this, I found out that the Wells sales man who sold me the boat back
in 1983 quit and joined another yacht brokerage firm two weeks ago. Thats
the person I am trying to contact now for details. I saw him at the Wayside
sail show two weekends ago but I had not received the letter by then.

I got strong suspicion on what is going on by now but will hold on my
speculation until I get more facts about the situation.

I belong to Boat US and called them yesterday. They are supposed to get back
to me. They questioned whether I am still liable after 5 years, unless there
is a law that explicitly states so. Another thing that bothers me is that
Wells sent the letter and a copy of the original invoice but did not send
me a copy of this so called "new state law" published by the Commonwealth
of Mass.

To answer your question:
>    What exactly is it that is taxable now?  Just freight, or
>    rigging/commissioning work?   Having bought an O'Day, I had no
>    freight since it was made in Fall River.
    
According to Wells, all of the above... In my opinion, it has been
ALWAYS. I would appreciate those who still have their original invoices
to check them and indicate in this note whether the service/items in
question were itemized and 5% taxed. Thanks in advance.

							-Al-

    There is a similar situation happening to carpenters all over Mass.
    
    It seems the law was sufficiently vague around labor and services
    that these guys were told by the tax department not to charge sales 
    tax for cabinets they installed, just the cabinets themselves.  
    Supposedly, the state "discovered" a more lucrative way of reading 
    the law, and has billed them for a bunch of back years sales tax 
    (which they didnt collect).   
    
    It has put several out of business and home. I think they are 
    organizing a class action of some sort.

    Walt

    Rick,
    
    FYI, a CAL 33 (Wells boat, shipped from the same place yours came from)
    at the Bayside Show showed a freight charge of $2-300. So you may be
    getting a letter from Wells too. 
    
    Ed