Today's useless fact - Is it possible to avoid taxes entirely by living on a boat?

My father once wrote into a newspaper finance page to ask about this, and their answer pretty much came down to "Yes, if you're careful, but you'd end up with so many other expenses that it's not really worth the trouble." If you don't earn any money then you don't have to pay income taxes. If you barter you don't have to pay sales taxes. But it's worth remembering that whilst a house can increase in value the longer you own it, no matter how much maintenance you carry out on a boat (and it will need a lot if you're contently moving), ultimately it can only decrease in value. Upgrading isn't an option so you won't get any returns on the repairs and improvements you carry out. This loss will cancel out any savings you make on taxes. Check out the links in our Tax category for more.