What can buyers of business and private aircraft in the USA hope for in 2025 in terms of potential tax benefits from their purchases? Experts share their insights with Chris Kjelgaard.
Aircraft buyers based in the US who plan to use their new and used planes primarily for business purposes have entered 2025 with reasons for hope that the year might prove favorable in terms of the tax treatment the US Federal Government affords their newly acquired aviation assets.
That hope is new, and it follows a year in which the tax picture at both US federal and state level for aircraft buyers began to show early signs of darkening.
In 2024, under what proved to be the outgoing Biden Administration, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) pronounced that it would direct greater scrutiny toward finding out to what extent owners were using their aircraft for business purposes – as legislation conferring tax benefits on purchases of aviation assets meant them to do.
The IRS further indicated it would put that scrutiny into practical effect by conducting increased numbers of tax audits on owners of new and used business and private aircraft.
That planned intensification of IRS focus would mean those owners who couldn’t document clearly that at least 50% of the flying they conducted with their aircraft during the year would be ineligible for the bonus depreciation schedule available, under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
As matters stand today, the act’s provisions for bonus depreciation on aircraft and various other purchased assets are scheduled to end in 2027.
But the dawning of 2025 – and with it the assumption of power by the Trump Administration – has brought what is widely expected to be a dramatic sea change in the US Government’s regulatory ethos as it affects many areas of business. That sea change is expected to include a relaxation of tax legislation, and perhaps a contraction in the size and oversight power of the IRS.
As of this early-February writing, it remains to be seen to what extent the Trump Administration will honor the political promises the incoming Administration made during last year’s Presidential campaigning process.
This article was originally published by AvBuyer on March 5, 2025.