NBAA Tax, Regulatory & Risk Management Conference

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Conference Agenda

Sunday, October 17, 2010

8:30 am – 9:00 am
Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 am – 9:20 am
Introduction to Seminar and Fact Patterns

Ed Kammerer, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, LLP

Several aircraft ownership/operational fact patterns will be introduced that will be referred to throughout the conference.
9:20 am – 10:10 am
Introduction to Part 91/135

Sue McKeon, Global Aviation, Inc.; David Norton, Shackelford, Melton & McKinley, LLP

Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of Parts 91 and 135 and how to charge for aircraft operations without violating regulatory requirements. Permissible ownership structures and various operating and leasing options, such as timesharing, interchange, dry leasing, joint ownership and fractional ownership, will be discussed. Other topics include how to avoid a flight department company and how to use a management company and still be noncommercial for FAA and IRS purposes.
10:10 am – 10:40 am
Break
10:40 am – 11:30 am
Excise Taxes on Transportation and Fuel: Issues and Solutions

Stewart Pearl, Pearl Professional Corporation; Patty Turner, Pearl Professional Corporation

After an overview of current transportation and fuel excise taxes applicable to business aircraft operations, this session will address current excise tax issues facing the industry. Topics include issues arising from the IRS excise tax audit guide such as treatment of single-member LLC's and Q subs, disregarded entities and fractional shares.
11:30 am – 12:20 pm
Break-Out Sessions

Basic Federal Aviation-Related Tax Concepts

Phil Crowther, Jackson & Wade, LLC

Everything you always wanted to know about federal income taxes related to aircraft--but were afraid to ask. This session provides an ideal introduction for flight department personnel, charter operators, and management company professionals to common federal tax concepts applied to business aircraft, such as trade or business use, income, current vs. capitalized expenses and deductions, passive vs. active income, and IRS (vs. FAA's) definitions of commercial and non-commercial.

Ethical Issues and Dilemmas in Aircraft Transactions

Ed Kammerer, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, LLP; Jeff Wieand, Boston JetSearch, Inc.

Ethical issues facing flight department personnel, brokers, lawyers, accountants and other professionals in business aviation transactions. Topics include conflicts of interest, back-to-back transactions, referral fees, and straying from your field of expertise.
12:20 pm – 1:20 pm
Lunch (included in the registration fee)
1:20 pm – 2:05 pm
How to Structure Personal Use of Company Aircraft

Keith Swirsky, GKG Law, PC

Learn how to make your aircraft available to company employees for non-business flights without violating FAA rules or IRS requirements. Learn how and to what extent employees can pay for flights and how to impute income to employees using the SIFL formula or fair market value method.
2:05 pm – 2:50 pm
How to Minimize the Entertainment Use Cost Disallowance

Ruth Wimer, Ernst & Young, LLP

An in-depth exploration of how best to deal with IRS limitations on the ability of companies to deduct aircraft expenses for tax purposes to the extent the aircraft is involved in non-business use. The session will include a discussion of the latest IRS authority on the subject.
2:50 pm – 3:20 pm
Break
3:20 pm – 4:00 pm
Lessons from Recent Aviation Accidents and Incidents

Stuart Hope, Hope Aviation Insurance; Dave Weil, Solairus Aviation

Insurance experts and risk managers will review a variety of noteworthy business aviation accidents and incidents and highlight lessons learned from an insurance and risk management perspective.
4:00 pm – 4:50 pm
Selected Issues in Aircraft Leases: Rules and Tax Consequences of Operating Leases

Joanne Barbera, Barbera & Watkins, LLC; Alvaro Pascotto, Morrison & Foerster, LLP

From serving as a way to acquire an aircraft to enabling an owner to maximize aircraft use, leases play an important role in business aviation. This session will focus on the criteria that a lease must satisfy to be a true lease for tax purposes and the positive and negative tax consequences of leasing an aircraft. Related FAA regulatory issues (such as leasing to a Part 135 operator) and state tax issues (such as leasing to minimize use tax) will also be discussed.
4:50 pm – 5:30 pm
Tactics to Avoid and Survive an IRS Audit

Jed Wolcott, Wolcott & Associates

Business aircraft often attract undue IRS scrutiny. Learn how to operate your business aviation organization to minimize the risk of an IRS audit and how to survive an audit when one occurs.

Monday, October 18, 2010

8:00 am – 8:30 am
Continental Breakfast
8:30 am – 8:40 am
Day 1 Recap and Introduction

Ed Kammerer, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder, LLP
8:40 am – 9:30 am
FAA's Re-Registration Rule and Other Current Aircraft Registration Issues

Frank L. Polk, McAfee & Taft; Amy Rhodes, GE Capital Solutions (invited)

Learn about the latest developments relating to FAA aircraft registration and the use of the International Registry to protect your rights in an aircraft, including a special emphasis on the final FAA rule on re-registration of aircraft and the FAA’s position on the use of noncitizen owner trusts.
9:30 am – 10:15 am
How States Tax Aircraft Sales and Operations

Jeff Towers, TVPX

Learn about the different ways states tax business aircraft ownership, operations, and maintenance as well as some of the latest state tax developments.
10:15 am – 10:45 am
Break
10:45 am – 11:15 am
Limitations on States' Taxing Authority

Greg Walden, Patton Boggs, LLP

States are becoming more active in trying to tax business aircraft. This session will discuss some of the more aggressive techniques for taxing business aviation implemented by some states in light of the limitations imposed by the U.S. Constitution.
11:15 am – 12:15 pm
Break Out Sessions

Hitting the Ident Button: How to Become an Even Better Resource to “Downtown”

Deborah Bew, Aircraft Acquisitions, Inc.; Sean Fitzgibbons, Wal-Mart Stores

Integral to managing your Part 91 flight department is an understanding how aircraft usage is translated by your company's accounting and corporate governance departments. This session will explore the intersection of aircraft usage for which your company seeks reimbursement and the applicable corporate policies and regulatory limitations. We will also explore managing personal use policies from the flight department's perspective and auditing its recordkeeping practices and paper trails to support those company policies and applicable regulations.

New Challenges for Charter Operators

Eileen Gleimer, Crowell & Moring, LLP; W. Ashley Smith, Jet Logistics, LLC

An in-depth discussion of some of the latest issues facing Part 135 operators, including FET collection for brokered flights, Part 382 disability rules, new DOT consumer protection rules, and practical considerations when administering regulations such as 135.121.
12:15pm - 1:15 pm
Lunch (included in the registration fee)
1:15 pm – 1:45 pm
Keynote Address by FAA Chief Counsel

J. David Grizzle, Federal Aviation Administration
1:45 pm – 2:15 pm
Current Developments at FAA & DOT

Gary Garofalo, Garofalo Goerlich Hainbach, PC; Dayton Lehman, U.S. Department of Transportation (invited)

Learn about the latest business aviation regulatory developments, including regulation of air charter brokers.
2:15 pm – 3:00 pm
Importing and Exporting an Aircraft

Stewart Lapayowker, Stewart H. Lapayowker, P.A.; Mark Ringel, Crowell & Moring, LLP

Business aviation is increasingly an international field. Learn about the issues involved in importing or exporting an aircraft to/from the U.S. Topics will include International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR), customs duties, Value Added Taxes (VAT) and other taxes, registration and de-registration, due diligence on liens and security interests, and obtaining airworthiness certificates.
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Break
3:30 pm – 4:15 pm
Airport Regulatory Issues

Kent Jackson, Jackson & Wade, LLC; Jol Silversmith, Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger, L.L.P.

Airports have their own set of rules and regulations to follow, many of which are unfamiliar to business aircraft operators, yet have significant impact on them. Topics such as minimum standards, noise abatement, and efforts to close or restrict airports to business aviation will be addressed. Recent case studies such as Santa Monica, CA, Naples, FL and Burbank, CA may be reviewed.
4:15 pm – 5:15 pm
What's New at the IRS

John Hoover, Dow Lohnes, PLLC

A discussion of some of the latest developments regarding important business aviation federal tax issues, including passive activity rules, maintenance and repairs, excise taxes, and depreciation/bonus depreciation.

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