GA's "fair share"

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
by "Mike Rapoport" Nov 4, 2005 at 07:10 PM


"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Current contribution is shown below. Increased AVGAS tax rates or user
fees are a given!

http://www.house.gov/transportation/...04-05memo.html


GA is also the only user that pays income tax."

What the ????? There is no income tax on general aviation. Maybe you
mean the personal income tax, which everyone pays?

Chances are that I paid more in income tax last year than Delta.

What the ????? There is no income tax on general aviation. Maybe you
mean the personal income tax, which everyone pays?

Did you full up your tank with Avgas paid for with money found in the
street?
-Robert

by "Robert M. Gary" Nov 4, 2005 at 01:10 PM


What the ????? There is no income tax on general aviation. Maybe
you
mean the personal income tax, which everyone pays?

Did you full up your tank with Avgas paid for with money found in the
street?
-Robert"

What the....

Uh. No. I use 93 octane, unleaded, in my car. When I restart my
training ( I decided to go with the Cessna over the Piper) I'll use Avgas.


I haven't found any money on the street recently. If I do, I suppose I
could spend it on gasoline.

Uh. No. I use 93 octane, unleaded, in my car.

Then you probably paid income tax on the money you used to buy gas. The
airlines don't, its a deductible expense. Nothing wrong with that but
the point is that its an extra tax revenue generated by GA pilots.

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
by "Mike Rapoport" Nov 4, 2005 at 07:10 PM


"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Current contribution is shown below. Increased AVGAS tax rates or user
fees are a given!

http://www.house.gov/transportation/...04-05memo.html


GA is also the only user that pays income tax."

What the ????? There is no income tax on general aviation. Maybe you
mean the personal income tax, which everyone pays?



Yes that is what I meant. The airlines pay no income taxes. They report a
tax liability under GAAP accounting but there is an adjustment in the cash
flow statement. I am all for user fees if it applies equally to everyone
for everything since my total tax bill would decline by a huge percentage.

Mike
MU-2

Airlines that make money pay income tax.

Mike Schumann

"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
news

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
by "Mike Rapoport" Nov 4, 2005 at 07:10 PM


"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Current contribution is shown below. Increased AVGAS tax rates or user
fees are a given!

http://www.house.gov/transportation/...04-05memo.html


GA is also the only user that pays income tax."

What the ????? There is no income tax on general aviation. Maybe you
mean the personal income tax, which everyone pays?



Yes that is what I meant. The airlines pay no income taxes. They report
a tax liability under GAAP accounting but there is an adjustment in the
cash flow statement. I am all for user fees if it applies equally to
everyone for everything since my total tax bill would decline by a huge
percentage.

Mike
MU-2

"Mike Schumann" wrote in message
ink.net...
Airlines that make money pay income tax.

Mike Schumann


No they don't

Mike
MU-2


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
news

"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
by "Mike Rapoport" Nov 4, 2005 at 07:10 PM


"Skylune" wrote in message
lkaboutaviation.com...
Current contribution is shown below. Increased AVGAS tax rates or user
fees are a given!

http://www.house.gov/transportation/...04-05memo.html


GA is also the only user that pays income tax."

What the ????? There is no income tax on general aviation. Maybe
you
mean the personal income tax, which everyone pays?



Yes that is what I meant. The airlines pay no income taxes. They report
a tax liability under GAAP accounting but there is an adjustment in the
cash flow statement. I am all for user fees if it applies equally to
everyone for everything since my total tax bill would decline by a huge
percentage.

Mike
MU-2

I think it's worth taking a different perspective on this. Let's say
that you have a moderately busy, medium-sized airport near a
medium-sized city -- there are (say) 20-30 airline flights in and out
every day. That airport has an FAA tower, and light aircraft account
for the majority of the movements. Should light aircraft owners pay
the majority of the cost of operating the tower, since we make the
majority of the radio calls?

To answer the question, consider what would happen if the tower were
closed. We all know how to fly in and out of airports without a tower
-- even the bizjets can handle that -- and on an IFR day, most of the
recreational pilots disappear, and the rest of us will simply do
one-in/one-out full procedure approaches. We might lose 10-15 minutes
occasionally, but that's no big deal.

Now, consider the airlines' CRJs or 737s having to share that airspace
with us, holding for 15 minutes waiting for a turn to approach in IMC,
or joining the VFR traffic pattern #5 for landing behind a Cessna 150.
With that in mind, who gets most of the benefits from having a control
tower?

I think the same is true of a lot of ATC services. Light aircraft talk
a lot to ATC, but to a large extent, we're doing so only to help the
heavy iron keep moving efficiently around us. It seems fair that the
airlines (and maybe bizjet operators) pay most of the cost, since they
get most of the benefit.


All the best,


David

Finally. A more reasoned argument than the sound bite nonsense coming from
Boyer. I would add that since Commercial planes move many more bodies than
GA, the bulk of the cost should fall on the commercials.

The only thing is, it already does pay the lion's share by far. And,
consider that most of the $$ paid by GA on the table I posted are not from
recreational pilots, who are basically getting a free ride. How much tax
do you pay when you pump in 25 gallons of AV gas?

On 2005-11-04, Skylune wrote:
consider that most of the $$ paid by GA on the table I posted are not from
recreational pilots, who are basically getting a free ride. How much tax
do you pay when you pump in 25 gallons of AV gas?

But recreational pilots seldom use the services. The vast majority of
airfields in the US are non-towered. I learned to fly at a privately
owned (but public use) airport in the US. No taxpayer's money was spent
on building or maintaining that airfield. If I flew just for fun, I
never contacted ATC. It was only when actually flying for transport that
I'd make use of ATC.

My current recreational flying is also from a private field that's
non-towered as well. We never talk to ATC either (we can't even if we
wanted to - the terrain prevents Ronaldsway's radar or radio signals
reach the area in which we fly).

The incremental cost of each recreational GA flight to the
infrastructure is so miniscule (since by and large recreational flights
tend to avoid ATC) it hardly matters.

--
Dylan Smith, Port St Mary, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net