questions on business use of my personal aircraft

1. What is the tax deductable rate for hourly use of aircraft (e.g.
for cars it is $.36 a mile I believe)?

$0.99 or $0.98 a mile, can't remember which, there is a specific provision
for it

2. Is it better to own my aircraft personally (to prevent the
aircraft being owned by the company in the event of a lawsuit) and
then have the business (LLC) "rent" from me personally for a certain
amount? How much is this "rent" and is it based on actual costs or
future costs (overhaul, etc)? Taxwise I will have to declare the rent
as income if it is more than my operating costs, right? But the
business gets to claim it as an expense, right? But how to convince
the IRS of the actual and future costs of aircraft ownership?

In my opinion, you are better off spending money for adequate insurance
coverage than legal advice on how to shield yourself liability-wise. The
truth is that if you are flying on business, and sh*t happens, both your
personal and business assets are at risk no matter how you set it up.

"Dan Thompson" wrote in message
m...

1. What is the tax deductable rate for hourly use of aircraft (e.g.
for cars it is $.36 a mile I believe)?

$0.99 or $0.98 a mile, can't remember which, there is a specific provision
for it

2. Is it better to own my aircraft personally (to prevent the
aircraft being owned by the company in the event of a lawsuit) and
then have the business (LLC) "rent" from me personally for a certain
amount? How much is this "rent" and is it based on actual costs or
future costs (overhaul, etc)? Taxwise I will have to declare the rent
as income if it is more than my operating costs, right? But the
business gets to claim it as an expense, right? But how to convince
the IRS of the actual and future costs of aircraft ownership?

In my opinion, you are better off spending money for adequate insurance
coverage than legal advice on how to shield yourself liability-wise. The
truth is that if you are flying on business, and sh*t happens, both your
personal and business assets are at risk no matter how you set it up.

You can check the rate for "use of personal airplane" on
http://www.dtic.mil/perdiem . The mileage allowance cannot exceed the
"customary commercial rate." It's hard to beat fares such as the $29 from
Manchester,NH to Orlando, FL. You can't even taxi to the run-up area for
$29.

In article p7Blc.17706$IG1.665359@attbi_s04,
William W. Plummer wrote:

You can check the rate for "use of personal airplane" on
http://www.dtic.mil/perdiem . The mileage allowance cannot exceed the
"customary commercial rate." It's hard to beat fares such as the $29 from
Manchester,NH to Orlando, FL. You can't even taxi to the run-up area for
$29.

How often do you make a flight between two points served by commercial
airlines? What if your personal flight enables you to be more efficient
or more effective? This is why you need a good accountant and not a
bunch of yahoos on usenet.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

"Dan Thompson" wrote in message
m...

1. What is the tax deductable rate for hourly use of aircraft (e.g.
for cars it is $.36 a mile I believe)?

$0.99 or $0.98 a mile, can't remember which, there is a specific provision
for it

You're thinking of the GSA rate that federal employees can get
reimbersed at when using their plane for government business.
Nothing 'official' as far as the IRS is concerned.

"Tony Cox" wrote in message
ink.net...
"Dan Thompson" wrote in message
m...

1. What is the tax deductable rate for hourly use of aircraft (e.g.
for cars it is $.36 a mile I believe)?

$0.99 or $0.98 a mile, can't remember which, there is a specific
provision
for it

You're thinking of the GSA rate that federal employees can get
reimbersed at when using their plane for government business.
Nothing 'official' as far as the IRS is concerned.

Right. But I think IRS will track GSA. Any discrepancy will cause a red
flag. Otherwise, you could write off all your airplance use at $100 per
mile!

On Tue, 04 May 2004 00:27:45 GMT, "William W. Plummer"
wrote:

Right. But I think IRS will track GSA. Any discrepancy will cause a red
flag. Otherwise, you could write off all your airplance use at $100 per
mile!

What makes you think that?

Corporations deduct expensive a/c flights all the time -- and I'd guess a
GIV costs more than $1/mile to run.


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)