A coalition of eight aviation and labor organizations—including NBAA, GAMA, NATA, and the NetJets pilot union—are jointly opposing higher fuel taxes under the Biden Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget and regulatory changes that "single out business aviation." The groups sent a letter outlining their collective objection yesterday to U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-Massachusetts).
The proposal calls for a phased increase in jet fuel taxes for non-commercial operators from the current 21.9 cents per gallon to $1.06 per gallon in fiscal year 2029. If enacted, this jet fuel tax would increase to 38.64 cents in 2025, with a 16.84-cent-per-gallon increase in each subsequent year until 2029. The Administration also aims to change the depreciation schedule for a purchased business aircraft from five to seven years.
“According to a 2018 Harris Poll, 85 percent of companies relying on an airplane to meet their transportation challenges are small and midsize enterprises,” the groups wrote. “The passengers aboard a business airplane are typically technicians, mid-level managers, and customers, not C-suite executives…Business aviation allows companies to optimize efficiency, productivity, and flexibility and to access hard-to-reach communities.”
Negative tax proposals would also adversely impact an industry that supports 1.2 million jobs and contributes nearly $250 billion to the country’s gross domestic product, they added. The coalition further warned of their impact to the industry’s continued role as “an innovation incubator” driving the aviation industry’s advancement toward greater safety and sustainability as well as net-zero carbon emissions.
“The health and livelihood of our industry is dependent on having an effective, reliable, and conducive regulatory and business environment,” the coalition continued. “Harmful tax proposals go in the wrong direction.
“Rather than ill-considered tax proposals and regulatory changes, we urge Congress to partner with the business aviation community, which is leading the way in developing new and innovative safety and environmental technologies, connecting communities, creating jobs, and benefiting American businesses of all sizes,” the letter concluded.