Posted on February 12th, 2019
Comments by President Obama’s press secretary that tax depreciation schedules constitute “loopholes” for corporate jet ignited a blitzkrieg of return fire from general aviation on Tuesday. Pete Bunce, chairman and CEO of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, declared that politics in Washington continues to demonstrate that facts can be conveniently overlooked when one is trying to point fingers and score sound bites. “Once again, the Obama Administration is starting the drumbeat that we could end all the fiscal challenges our nation faces by changing the depreciation schedule for general aviation and business aircraft from five to seven years,” he said. “Their rhetoric is wrong and all it does is hurt general aviation companies and workers across this country.” Bunce emphasized that the depreciation schedule includes all capital assets, such as computers and automobiles, and is not exclusive to aircraft. NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said that proposals to reduce the nation’s debt should be based on reality rather than rhetoric. “Unfortunately, in the course of the debate over the debt, the White House recently focused on misleading statements related to depreciation schedules for business aircraft,” he asserted.