Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The IRS has begun a half-dozen audits of what will be an initial tranche of 50 into the use of business jets. Based on the first few, “it's going to be very intense and it's going to be something that the industry hasn't seen on this level,” warned David Shannon, a partner with and chair of the business aviation practice for Lewis Brisbois, yesterday at the NBAA Regional Forum in White Plains, New York.
In February, the agency <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-02-23/irs-stepping-scrutiny-personal-bizjet-use">revealed plans</a> to launch “dozens” of audits on business aircraft use to ensure that large corporations, partnerships, and high-income taxpayers are properly allocating between personal and business use for tax purposes. Additional funding received from the Inflation Reduction Act enabled the IRS to increase staff so it could “closely examine this area, which has not been closely scrutinized during the past decade,” the agency said.
Shannon informed that the first batch so far has involved high-net-worth individuals, including a few well-known names, and closely held corporations, mostly on the West Coast. The audits have not yet extended to Fortune 500 corporations. They are focused on 2022 during the tail end of Covid.
“The IDR [the IRS Information Document Request] we received…is twice as long as some IDRs are and the things they’re asking for are extremely thorough,” Shannon said. “We’re at the stage where we need to treat this with the level of seriousness that the situation requires.”
Noting that there is a small pool of aviation attorneys and accountants with experience in this area, he added: “The fact of the matter is that we don't have the capacity as an industry to handle those 50 audits that are going to come to this initial way. After these initial 50 audits for the large businesses, the algorithm that they're using is going to be modified and then you're going to have hundreds and hundreds of audits. Our industry cannot handle hundreds and hundreds of audits.”
He urged the audience to prepare now and go through a mock audit. “You have to go through all of your documentation now because when you get the phone call or when you get your notice in the mail, it's not going be the only one that goes out. There's going to be dozens of these that are going to keep coming out week after week after week.”
In addition to the normal corporate documents and minutes, the IRS is seeking a lengthy list of documentation on a range of items, including charts; journal entries; a general ledger that includes balances for every account number; and all officer and employment information. “And then we get to page two of the IRD, which has 17 other [requests],” Shannon said. “Most people do not have some of the things that are on this list.”
He pointed to company policy on aircraft. “Most high-net-worth individuals do not have that. Some corporations do not have that.”
The regulations themselves are complex and sometimes convoluted, but if a company is unclear on the documentation, it is leaving the determination of the flight in the hands of the auditor. “I want everyone to understand that those flights need to be documented thoroughly because that's what they're coming after,” he said, adding that for some companies that still had Covid restrictions in place in 2022, the audit can be particularly tricky.
“If they can attack your qualified business use and you only have a couple of flights that will kick you out of the bonus depreciation, that's what they're coming [after],” Shannon said. “If there's only one or two flights, if they can challenge a flight and show that it's not documented properly, you're going to lose the bonus.”
He called that tact “opposite of the center,” noting that the whole concept of bonus depreciation is to drive growth.

Issues regarding financing of aircraft; aviation insurance; tax issues for aircraft operators; new companies and people in the aviation financing and insurance industries.

Top Bizav Attorney: IRS Audits 'Something Industry Hasn't Seen Before'

IRS has launched first half-dozen audits

The IRS has launched the first half-dozen business aircraft use audits, which have proven to be much more extensive than what has been done in the past.

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Amy Wilder

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Utility-configured aircraft led pricing gains

Aero Asset Reports Single-engine Helo Price Surge Trend

Charles Alcock

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

Agreement avoids 15% tariffs that go into effect for other products on August 1

U.S.-EU Trade Deal Spares Aerospace from Tariffs

Curt Epstein

New developments at FBOs including regulations and noise issues; legal disputes; openings, acquisitions and mergers.

The Titan Fuels company is increasing its products for Titan-branded FBOs

Titan Aerospace Insurance Offers Plan for Branded FBOs

The Brazilian airframer has nearly $30 billion in financial committments

Embraer Reaches Record Backlog for E-Jets in 2Q2025

The French group’s first-half order intake grew 57% in the first half of 2025

Defense Bolsters Dassault, Trappier Decries U.S. Tariffs

The Collins business is now part of the Safran Electronics & Defense division 

Safran Completes Acquisition of Collins’ Flight Controls

UK start-up says it now has cash to support work on the four-passenger aircraft through mid-2026

Vertical Raises $60 Million for VX4 eVTOL Aircraft Development

News and developments about aircraft engines, including turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft and piston.

More In Finance, Taxes, Insurance