The National Business Aviation Association is questioning the Internal Revenue’s announcement this week that it plans to begin “dozens” of audits involving U.S. business aircraft use. The association notes that, as with any asset, corporate entities that use business aircraft are expected to comply with appropriate Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and federal tax laws.
Non-business use of corporate aircraft is a sticky point, but NBAA points out that directors of public companies may permit personal use of aircraft as long as appropriate SEC and IRS rules are observed.
NBAA also pointed out that, in some cases, directors will mandate that certain employees travel on company aircraft “out of safety and security concerns.” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said, “For decades, studies have shown that companies utilizing business aircraft to successfully address some portion of their transportation challenges consistently outperform comparable companies without the asset.” He added, “Today’s announcement by the IRS amounts to nothing more than an audit in search of a problem, and an attempt to broadly paint with a negative brush the thousands of U.S. companies of all sizes that rely on business aircraft to effectively compete in a global marketplace.”
