If the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, H.R.1, aimed to simplify federal taxes in the U.S., it missed the mark for business aviation. However, it did include significant tax benefits and other changes worth considering before a prospective business/taxpayer enters into an aircraft purchase, sale, lease, or management arrangement. Changes include full expensing of aircraft cost until 2023, repeal of like-kind exchanges, an exemption of aircraft management fees from federal excise taxes (FET) and continuing incentives for tax leasing.
H.R.1 should boost new and preowned aircraft acquisitions and sales because it offers buyers immediate cash savings on purchases of aircraft. It does so by increasing “bonus depreciation” on business aircraft purchases from 50 percent to 100 percent starting Sept. 27, 2017, and ending in 2023. After that, it phases down 20 percent per year to zero.
David G. Mayer is a member of the global Aviation Practice Group at Shackelford, McKinley & Norton in Dallas, which handles private aircraft matters, including regulatory compliance, tax planning, purchases, sales, leasing and financing, risk management, insurance, aircraft management and operations, hangar leasing, and related corporate work. Mayer frequently represents corporations and high- and ultra-high-net worth individuals and other aircraft owners, flight departments, lessees, borrowers, operators, sellers, purchasers, corporations and managers, as well as lessors and lenders. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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