Washington, DC, March 20, 2017 – Today, the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) filed a Friend of the Court brief in support of member company Bombardiers’ request the U.S. Supreme Court review a Fifth Circuit ruling upholding an IRS decision to apply federal transportation excise taxes to the management fees of its then fractional operation subsidiary, Flexjet.

The amicus brief, submitted on behalf of NATA by Lars Liebeler (Lars Liebeler, PC) and NATA Executive Vice President and General Counsel Timothy Obitts, outlines the regulatory overreach of the IRS, the conflict created by the Fifth Circuit’s ruling versus other federal courts in similar cases, and the related economic uncertainties the IRS’s varying interpretations is causing within the aviation industry.

The following is a statement by National Air Transportation Association President Martin H. Hiller: 

“We are pleased to take this important step today in support of Bombardier.  NATA’s mission includes supporting our members in instances like these where the Executive Branch has exceeded its statutory authority and the federal courts have created legal interpretations that impact the entire industry.  As Tim and Lars have noted in our filing, the statute the IRS has cited in support of its misguided and inconsistently applied policy is clearly only related to the movement of an aircraft and not its management.”

NATA hopes the Supreme Court will take up this case and rule in favor of Bombardier.  By doing so, the Court will take a large step toward effecting rational tax policy, assisting in efforts to bring certainty to an issue that hangs over our member companies that provide aircraft management services,” Hiller concluded.