Lon33
Pre-takeoff checklist
I'm trying to find out what, if anything, actually gets reported (in the real world) on tax returns filed by members of LLCs that own personal-use planes. By "personal use," I mean planes that are flown only for pleasure -- not for business -- so tax deductions are not taken for operating expenses or depreciation.
I know that a member of a single-member LLC is permitted to report the LLC's income and expenses on Schedule C of the member's personal Form 1040. And I know that the members of a multi-member LLC are expected to report the LLC's income and expenses on Form 1065. Virtually everything I've come across in my research has concerned LLCs that are in business, so they have (or hope to have) business income and deductible expenses. I have found very little about the reporting obligations of LLCs that own non-business personal-use property (and the little I have found concerned personal-use vacation homes, not airplanes).
If the LLC owns a personal-use airplane, it seems to me that there are three possible ways that tax returns can be handled, and my question boils down to: Which way is it actually done?:
1. The LLC's member(s) may not file tax returns at all, on the grounds that the LLC doesn't have any income or deductible expenses.
2. The LLC's member(s) may file a Form 1040 Schedule C or a Form 1065 that reports $0 income and $0 deductions, again on the grounds that the LLC doesn't have any income or deductible expenses.
3. The LLC's members(s) may file a Form 1040 Schedule C or Form 1065 that reports
- as income: the amount of money the member(s) have deposited into the LLC's bank account to pay for the plane's expenses; and
- as deductible expenses: the amount of money the LLC has spent on those expenses.
If #3 is what's actually done, I'm curious about how deposits for future maintenance and engine overhauls are accounted for. Are they reported as non-income capital contributions, or are they reported as current income and then offset by depreciation deductions?
I'm not looking for legal or accounting advice. I'm just trying to determine what's actually being done, by those who own planes in LLCs.
I know that a member of a single-member LLC is permitted to report the LLC's income and expenses on Schedule C of the member's personal Form 1040. And I know that the members of a multi-member LLC are expected to report the LLC's income and expenses on Form 1065. Virtually everything I've come across in my research has concerned LLCs that are in business, so they have (or hope to have) business income and deductible expenses. I have found very little about the reporting obligations of LLCs that own non-business personal-use property (and the little I have found concerned personal-use vacation homes, not airplanes).
If the LLC owns a personal-use airplane, it seems to me that there are three possible ways that tax returns can be handled, and my question boils down to: Which way is it actually done?:
1. The LLC's member(s) may not file tax returns at all, on the grounds that the LLC doesn't have any income or deductible expenses.
2. The LLC's member(s) may file a Form 1040 Schedule C or a Form 1065 that reports $0 income and $0 deductions, again on the grounds that the LLC doesn't have any income or deductible expenses.
3. The LLC's members(s) may file a Form 1040 Schedule C or Form 1065 that reports
- as income: the amount of money the member(s) have deposited into the LLC's bank account to pay for the plane's expenses; and
- as deductible expenses: the amount of money the LLC has spent on those expenses.
If #3 is what's actually done, I'm curious about how deposits for future maintenance and engine overhauls are accounted for. Are they reported as non-income capital contributions, or are they reported as current income and then offset by depreciation deductions?
I'm not looking for legal or accounting advice. I'm just trying to determine what's actually being done, by those who own planes in LLCs.