Your accountant may be confusing the entertainment use taxation rules (which is what you posted) as opposed to the general business expense deductibility question, which requires that the expense be incurred in the course of carrying out your trade and that it be ordinary and necessary.

There's nothing in the tax code to suggest that you need to use the lowest cost means of travel. Surely, riding a bicycle would be cheaper than driving, yet you're allowed to drive. Driving is often cheaper than commercial flying, yet you can fly commercial...

Michael,

Rule 1. Hire aviation tax/atty professional before you jump. You really need to let experts tell you what your tax consequences will be based on your situation...

That's wrong. You can deduct, if business use, whatever it costs to travel. Whether B757 or C152. You determine.

On the other hand you are right that your deduction will be reduced by a charge for your family going along, in many, not all, situations. That reduction may be deminimis in your circumstances..

Hire an aviation tax atty or accountant if you are looking at moving up. They can discuss your situation and the hoops to jump through. You are also allowed to use it for entertainment, personal and work. In some cases you will have to reimburse yourself at the SIFL rate as determined yearly by the above experts.

The above is only a reasonable taximile of advice so take it with a pinch of salt.. See rule 1. PM if you'd like a number/name

Chuck, fair enough and thanks. If that's the case, I'm golden

Maybe not a 737, but something burning JetA.

Tony: I'm in Europe right now, so excuse the disjointed posts from my I-Phone. The dry lease must give us the choice of crew. Too much control by owner doesn't work. They maintain the plane and I lease for an hourly rate. For the V its 1,200 per hour plus fuel and any crew. They insure the plane and I can be covered as SIC until rated. Then PIC with some number of hours. Let's say I would fly it 50 or 60 hours a year. Doesn't seem to make sense to purchase for that. I'm leasing and can get a little better rate if I commit to more hours, like 25 or more a year. I pay to fly it, plane, fuel, crew, and I'm done. We agree on them making it available. The other side is it may not be available when I want it, usually can't take it a long time and park it on a trip, and crew has to be approved by them.
Helpful?

Thanks Nigel! Your posts are always most helpful.

Dave,

Yes that is. Are you able to do that with an individual or through a 135 operator managing the plane?

Have a great time in Europe!

Thanks.

Hire an aviation accounting firm. Most accountants don't understand airplanes and the rules.

There is those two words again!

Sorry Jason. I couldn't help myself.

Tony: tried to reply and keep getting some err. I'll try again later.

Leasing from a 135 operator that's trying to make a profit. Have an individual that will lease a II more competitively to cover inspections and fixed costs.

Hey Mark...what took you so long to get off the ground

Maybe a bit off topic and well covered in other posts but I always enjoy posts about the older Citations and low entry costs. I sat in 500 last week that was in the hangar next to mine. I asked a mechanic I know what to expect in maintantance costs, his answer..."Give me $50,000 " I said, for what? His response, if you have to ask, you can't afford it. Lol

$50k is what a decent prebuy will cost you.

Quick story: In my analysis I included the cost of executive time saved as a factor in evaluating travel options. This came up at my Board meeting. One Board member confided that he recently had spent a week traveling around a state his company does business in visiting plants. During that time period he drove 1,300 miles. This is senior guy knocking down $500k year. There is no rationale for this approach. 5 days out of the field. 1,300 miles, and worse yet....a conclusion on his part that he would not likely do this again for a year because of the time and effort required.

Just sayin

Some people think big, some people think small, and some people ask if there is a better way.