​​​​Since 2001 the personal property tax rate on "privately owned pleasure boats and watercraft used for recreational purposes only" was lowered to one-millionth of one cent ($0.000001) per $100.

 

The tax rate on all other boats remains $1.50 per hundred dollars of assessed value by Virginia Beach City Ordinance 3232E.

 

What to do if you sell or move your watercraft
You must notify the Department of Wildlife Resources, formerly the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, or the US Coast Guard, if the vessel is documented, of any change in ownership or address of watercraft.

 

Methods of discovering watercraft
The Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and the US Coast Guard furnishes the Commissioner of the Revenue a list of all watercraft registered in our city as of January 1 each year. Taxes are based on ownership as of January 1 of the current calendar year. The watercraft does not have to be in the city on January 1 to be considered taxable for the whole year. If the watercraft is normally garaged, docked, or parked in the city, it has acquired a degree of permanency and is taxable for the whole calendar year. The City of Virginia Beach does not prorate taxes for watercraft.​