Buffett Gets a Break on Fee
WSJ 4/24/2012
“But NetJets Inc., the private-jet company owned by Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., spent more than $1 million over the past three years to lobby Congress to cut a user fee, benefiting the company's well-heeled customers, who buy or lease shares in planes. The reduced fee, part of the recent Federal Aviation Administration bill that took effect earlier this month, will save customers of NetJets and other similar companies roughly $83 million over about four years, according to congressional estimates.”
“Under the bill in question, a routine piece of legislation that reauthorized the FAA, commercial airlines didn't see any decrease in fees. NetJets, by contrast, won its bid to change its classification to a noncommercial airline and will end up paying less during the life of the provision, which expires in 2015.
NetJets said its goal was to rationalize how the industry is treated. Previously, the FAA and Internal Revenue Service had disagreed about whether such aviation should be considered commercial or noncommercial. NetJets is suing the IRS over fees its customers previously paid under the "commercial" classification.
The lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill was "intended to get a clarification so that the tax code is congruent," said Bob Tanner, the company's vice president for government affairs. "This was not to get a tax cut," he said.
Nonetheless, the change effectively lowers the fees NetJets customers have to pay.”
WSJ 4/24/2012
“But NetJets Inc., the private-jet company owned by Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., spent more than $1 million over the past three years to lobby Congress to cut a user fee, benefiting the company's well-heeled customers, who buy or lease shares in planes. The reduced fee, part of the recent Federal Aviation Administration bill that took effect earlier this month, will save customers of NetJets and other similar companies roughly $83 million over about four years, according to congressional estimates.”
“Under the bill in question, a routine piece of legislation that reauthorized the FAA, commercial airlines didn't see any decrease in fees. NetJets, by contrast, won its bid to change its classification to a noncommercial airline and will end up paying less during the life of the provision, which expires in 2015.
NetJets said its goal was to rationalize how the industry is treated. Previously, the FAA and Internal Revenue Service had disagreed about whether such aviation should be considered commercial or noncommercial. NetJets is suing the IRS over fees its customers previously paid under the "commercial" classification.
The lobbying campaign on Capitol Hill was "intended to get a clarification so that the tax code is congruent," said Bob Tanner, the company's vice president for government affairs. "This was not to get a tax cut," he said.
Nonetheless, the change effectively lowers the fees NetJets customers have to pay.”
