Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

There have been two key developments in recent efforts by the U.S. government to extract more tax money from fractional-share operators, the subject of a <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2011-11-17/netjets-sues-irs-over-6427m-tax-bill">NetJets lawsuit against the government</a> and the <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/ainalerts/2012-04-03/irs-countersues-netjets-seeking-367m-excise-taxes">government’s counter-lawsuit</a>.
In the recently passed FAA reauthorization funding bill, Congress offers relief for fractional-share providers. The bill requires fractional operators to pay an extra 14.1 cents per gallon surtax on top of existing general aviation fuel taxes. Thus these operations won’t have to pay federal excise taxes because the bill specifically identifies fractional flights as non-commercial. 
The NetJets-IRS dispute may yet be settled because on April 13 the U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, granted a joint motion filed by NetJets and the U.S. government. The two parties had filed a motion to stay proceedings, pending private mediation. The judge ruled that all proceedings in this case are stayed until August 28 “so that the parties may proceed with private mediation.”
Meanwhile, there have been no developments in the <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2012-04-04/irs-memo-triggers-federal-excise-tax-fears">attempt to persuade the IRS that Part 91 flights are non-commercial</a> and should therefore not be subject to the federal excise tax. While NBAA has met with the IRS’s chief counsel and is regularly discussing the issue with the IRS, nothing has changed as this issue goes to press. The IRS issued a <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aviation-international-news/2012-04-04/irs-memo-triggers-federal-excise-tax-fears">memo</a> on March 9 that appears to make a case for why the agency believes that the so-called ticket tax should apply to Part 91 flights. The consequences of the IRS’s action could mean that aircraft management companies would have to ask owners to pay excise taxes on any fees or services billed to the owner.

NetJets, IRS May Settle Tax Dispute

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