State Legislature Continues Use Tax Policy Against Transient
Aircraft
If you purchased your
plane within the past year, you'll probably want to continue
avoiding flying it in Maine. Legislative appropriators gutted a
bill this week that would have exempted out-of-state aircraft from the state's use tax.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association tells ANN the pilot
advocacy group worked closely with the Maine aviation business
community, and members of the state House of Representatives and
Senate, to craft a bill that would have exempted out-of-state
aircraft from the tax... but a last-minute change to the bill by
the Appropriations Committee means that out-of-state pilots who
have owned their aircraft for less than a year once again face tax
bills of thousands of dollars if they spend as little as three
weeks in Maine anytime during that first year of ownership.
"This bill doesn’t address the tax issue at all," said
Greg Pecoraro, AOPA vice president of regional affairs.
"Appropriators were reluctant to give up aviation use tax revenue
because of an expected structural gap in the state budget, but
we’ve told the legislature that they won’t be able to
get much revenue from the use tax because new aircraft owners
won’t fly into the state."
AOPA states the final version only allows exemptions for charity
and compassion flights, such as Angel Flight medical airlift
flights, from the 20-day limit a new aircraft can be in Maine
without being taxed. The version of the bill, that passed both the
House and the Senate before going to the Appropriations Committee,
would also have exempted an aircraft’s time spent in the
state because of poor weather, or on business or pleasure trips.
Time spent in the state for maintenance is already exempt.
Aircraft owners who did not have to
pay sales tax when they purchased their aircraft would be subject
to paying six percent of the aircraft's sale price. Those who paid
a sales tax less than six percent would be charged the
difference.
AOPA notes that while a few weekend trips to Maine might not
hurt, pilots should still be wary.
"There is a gray area. It is possible that if you fly to Maine
on a Friday evening after work and stay until early Monday morning
before flying back to the office, that stay could count as four
days of the time limit," Pecoraro noted. "Or, let’s say your
aircraft gets weathered in during your weekend trip, and because of
work obligations, you have to leave your airplane and drive or
catch a train home.
"The clock is ticking the whole time the aircraft is stuck in
the state."