Tax man is Unfriendly, Boo Hoo!

"Illinois lawmakers ought to drop the state's sales tax on aircraft and
aircraft parts so the industry can remain competitive, aviation
industry officials said at a meeting at DuPage Airport in West Chicago
Friday.
Ed Green, vice president and general manager of the Springfield- based
Garrett Aviation Service Centers, said 28 states do not have an
aviation tax and 20 states don't tax aircraft maintenance, either.
The taxes, he said, are disincentives for people to buy or service
aircraft in Illinois or to do business here at all.
"You have a mobile product. It's not a captive audience. They can go
anywhere to get maintenance done," he said.

For example, if an aircraft owner wanted a $200,000 engine overhaul, it
would cost $14,000 more in Illinois, based on a 7 percent sales tax.
Going to another state would cost more in fuel but less overall. The
same is true for corporate jet purchases, which are typically much
more.
Green said the benefits from new jobs, people coming to Illinois and
staying in hotels and eating at restaurants, along with taxes on
corporate profits, would replace lost dollars from lifting the airplane
tax.
He also dismissed the idea that lifting the tax would be a break for
people affluent enough to afford an aircraft, saying "they've already
got that break" in other states.

George Yundt, regional sales manager for the Dassault Falcon Jet Corp.
in Orland Park, agreed. He said in his nine years with the firm, he's
seen 37 businesses with aviation departments either leave the state, go
bankrupt or close their flight departments.
"There's something endemic at the state level," he said. "This is not a
corporation-friendly state to have your headquarters here. Think about
it, how many corporations came to Illinois in the past few years?
Boeing, and that's it."

DuPage Airport Executive Director David Bird said aviation leaders need
to identify why the industry isn't as strong as it should be in
Illinois.
"That exodus seems to be problematic, and (Yundt) is right," he said.
"We need to get to the cause of that, and maybe it's more than just one
cause."

The first annual Governmental Affairs Day was organized by the Chicago
Area Business Aviation Association."

We'll take our toys elsewhere, you meanees! JG