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Level 1
June 3, 2019
Question

Can I deduct the cost of obtaining my private pilots license as a business expense if i am owner of a business and can justify it is needed?

  • June 3, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 4 views
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1 reply

Level 15
June 3, 2019

If you own a business, you can deduct education expenses if the courses help improve or main the skills needed in your area of work or are required by law to keep your occupation. To deduct the cost of a private pilot license, you have to prove that it satisfy either of these tests.

Please read this IRS document for more information:

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc513

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Level 2
October 11, 2021

Sorry I know this is an old question but thought this would be the best place to add this.

 

Would the following example likely pass the test, knowing that this particular license is frequently being scrutinized?

 

Safety officer of a company in charge of a UAS (drone) program obtaining a private pilots license (PPL).  The Part 107 remote pilot certification is an obvious need for business but going as far as getting a PPL is not legally needed.  The justification; however, is  threefold: 1) the particular clientele this business targets would be more likely to choose the this business as their UAS provider if they can demonstrate a higher level of skill and awareness than minimum certifications as their operations are high risk/high penalty if something goes wrong; 2) in their eyes it is legitimately a safety improvement for an officer responsible for the program to better understand sharing the skies - consider a drone strike to a manned aircraft could result in loss of life or at minimum consider that many drones plus their payloads actually cost more than many of the aircraft they are likely to encounter ( a small GA planes without transponders vs. a $150,000 drone - many new drones will soon be equipped with automatic avoidance of anything with a transponder); 3) which is more of a supplement of the other 2 points than a bullet on its own, their operations with this particular clientele are frequently near airports and require special authorizations and though not expressly written you can imagine a local authority will give more weight to someone with a pilots license to operate near an airport over someone with minimum qualifications. 

Alumni - Champ
October 12, 2021

If you are audited by the IRS, you will have to show that the deducted expense is both ordinary and necessary in your trade or business.

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/deducting-business-expenses

**Answers are correct to the best of my ability but do not constitute tax or legal advice.