8 April 2008
The Sun ‘n Fun Fly-in – traditionally one of the world’s biggest fly-ins, beaten only by its sister event at Oshkosh – gets under way today at Lakeland’s Linder Regional Airport in Florida.
You can expect many new products to be unveiled, and upgrades to existing aircraft to be revealed, at the show, which often sets the tone for the coming year.
The build-up to this year’s show, however, has been overshadowed by a row over tax. Over the past few weeks Florida’s Department of Revenue has been horrifying pilots by collecting sales/use tax on aircraft which had simply been visiting the state. Rumours were that if the owner had not paid sales tax on an aircraft, or if the sales tax which had been paid was significantly less than that which would be due in Florida, the State would levy a hefty invoice on the owner.
It appeared from some examples that the aircraft only had to stay one night in the state for the tax to come into force.
This would clearly have been devastating to an event which expects to see thousands of aircraft flock to the State. However, the Revenue Department has now clarified the situation, and part of the clarification clearly states: “We will not be at Sun ’n Fun; we do use ‘fly-ins’ as enforcement opportunities”. Furthermore, it says that the Revenue’s use tax enforcement activities is on aircraft with a significant connection to Florida (such as Florida resident, ownership of Florida real estate, officer in a Florida corporation, etc.), and that it is trying to bring in legislation “which will provide aircraft with “safe harbor” treatment for limited use in Florida similar to that currently enjoyed by boats.”
More on the Sun ‘n Fun website <a href=’http://www.sun-n-fun.org/content/interior.asp?section=flyin&body=flasalestax’ target=’_blank’>news pages</a>.
