Tax problem for politician

One time Democrat party US Presidential candidate John Kerry's yacht in the Whangarei Town Basin. Photo / John Stone

A former United States presidential candidate has volunteered to pay US$500,000 ($684,941) after US officials began inquiring into whether he had tried to evade tax on his yacht, the Isabel, built in New Zealand.

Believed to be worth US$7 million, the yacht, built in Whangarei for Senator John Kerry, arrived in the US in March and docked at Rhode Island, a tax haven for yacht owners.

But US reports say the Isabel has been seen frequently in Massachusetts, where residents who have bought boats out of state must pay a user tax of 6.25 per cent by the 20th day of the month after they take possession of the craft.