There is less than a month left in 2013. For many businesses, this is a time to look at yearend capital purchases. Buying in December can get a business a nice tax deduction for the year while spending the money as late as December 31. With new business aircraft, you commonly see strong sales and deliveries in the last quarter, December especially. To see if this makes sense from a tax perspective, consult an aviation tax authority, not me. Here are three tips if you find yourself in an airplane-buying mood.
Tip #1. Take the time to plan on what aircraft to acquire. If this article is your first inkling that you want to buy, wait until next year. Buying on impulse often leaves you disappointed. What looked or sounded great in the moment can turn out not to be what you thought you were getting.
When looking at what aircraft to acquire, be objective. Objective means choosing criteria that can be measured. Objective criteria should also be specific to the mission assigned to the aircraft. That way you can avoid over-buying - getting far too much aircraft than you really need. If you are clear about what you need, it is easier to set up your criteria. “Go anywhere, anytime” might set you up for a supersonic tilt-rotor amphibian, but can you afford that? Make sure that whatever aircraft you acquire, that it meets objective criteria for meeting your business’s air transportation needs.
Tip #2. Get your acquisition team together. To get the tax deduction for a business aircraft for 2013, you will generally need to take delivery and place the aircraft into service by year’s end. Ownership involves the title, insurance, sales tax planning, and possibly financing. The bigger the aircraft, the more complexity these deals seem to have. Make sure that your team: legal, tax, insurance, finance, etc. are informed and prepared in advance. Note: in advance is not the day prior to delivery. These professionals are quite busy in December.
Tip #3. Evaluate all of the costs involved in the owning, and operating, of the proposed aircraft. You may be getting a sizeable discount on the aircraft you are looking to purchase, but if it is going to eat up a lot of money in operating expenses, then the deal may not be the best one financially. Look at the total Life Cycle Costs: acquisition, operating costs, finance or lease costs, and potential resale value after a period of use.
Being able to get another tax deduction in 2013 with the acquisition of an aircraft may be great in 2013, but may not be as helpful to your company in 2014 and beyond. As part of the aircraft life cycle costing, you may want to look at your company’s projected profits over the next few years. 2013 may be a profitable year (congratulations), but having a larger write-off next year may be better.
Bonus tip #4. Good things come to those who will wait. When the new aircraft manufacturer makes a lot of year-end deliveries, many of them will come with a trade-in. So Early 2014 should see these same folks with some good deals on pre-owned aircraft. Maybe, just maybe, the deal on the older aircraft might exceed to deal on the new model.
I did not see any “Black Friday” deals on new aircraft. But, depending on the manufacturer and model, there may be some great deals to be had prior to yearend. If you have planned for this in advance, you should be able to make things happen. P.S. - cash is king here as the deal would be guaranteed to close.