Jeff Duncan: “as members of the House of Representatives, we each hold dear to us a number of founding principles which make our…”

“as members of the House of Representatives, we each hold dear to us a number of founding principles which make our democracy truly exceptional. One of these principles I am sure we all cherish is sensible, responsible, and coordinated government. It has been a long-standing, established practice in the aviation industry to deduct as current expenses the costs of FAA-mandated aircraft safety inspections, maintenance, and repairs. Recently, however, the IRS has sought to drastically reverse this policy. This reversal forces the cost of major FAA-mandated safety inspections, maintenance, and repairs to be capitalized, rather than being immediately expensed. This action unfairly penalizes airlines for complying with the FAA's mandated safety regulations. Further, the IRS has not submitted this change to Congress as proposed regulation, nor as a proposed regulation change. If it had, these actions would be open to public scrutiny, interagency coordination and congressional review. Changing tax-policy on airline safety-related activities should be consistent with, not contradict, the actions of the FAA. It is bad public policy to create a tax penalty on the safety-related efforts that others within the administration are trying to encourage. In addition, the IRS, by avoiding the regulatory rulemaking and legislative process, is denying the public, other affected agencies, and, to some degree, even Congress participation in this aviation safety policy matter.”