Private Ownership vs. Company Ownership (non syndicate discussion)

Have a look here at what I believe is the current position.

Also do a search here on

limited company

It is about liability if a group member prangs it and the insurance refuses to pay out (easily done, say, his medical lapsed, etc). For private flying there are no financial advantages in the UK that I know of. OTOH your location could be anywhere; if you post it, others will be able to post their views.

This is obviously country specific, but I recently talked with a Lawyer friend, and he was of the opinion that the liability issues are pretty much the same whether it is a club or an AG/SA (Aktiengesellschaft, societé anonyme, ltd.co, whatever)

The main drivers of company ownership in light GA are:

• whether the country has joint and several liability for actions of any member
• whether the taxation regime allows the reclaim of VAT (etc) even for private use
• whether there are some advantages in a “club” (e.g. the Italian tax concessions to a “sporting organisation” as it was once described to me)

I’m based in UK, Do you have to convince HRMC that the aircraft is to be used by the business?
I did search here but nothing specific to the question,

Think Benefit In Kind

I’m based in UK, Do you have to convince HRMC that the aircraft is to be used by the business?

Could you describe what you want to achieve, @ABar?

If for example you are the sole pilot, there is no point in a corporate structure for liability limitation.

There are complex reasons in favour and this is the main reason for the IOM (M-reg) scene.

Think Benefit In Kind

Do you have information on this, Peter?

zWhen I looked into this my accountant advised that HMRC would be all over me wanting to claim tax on the aircraft as even if I charged myself an economic rental fee they would take the view I was receiving a BIK and tax accordingly. This was 5 years ago and I decided not to go further on that route.

One reason that you might consider a corporate structure, if one than one person owns the aircraft, is that it gives a good framework for managing the finances, selling a share, reaching agreement on difficult issues etc.

Of course you can draw up an agreement covering all these things yourself, but a company has lots of legislation already in place, to gives procedures and practices for such things.

If your reason is to get some sort of tax break for your hobby, then be very very careful about how you do it. Expect it to be challenged. Not if, but when. You’ll need professional advice there.

The advantages of ‘ltd’ is the protection of third party liability.
If taxiing somewhere you hit/destroy a jumbo jet the liabilities could be colossal.
If you are ‘ltd’ to share value, you should be able to keep your house etc.!
It has never, as far as I know, been tested ,but if they pierced the ‘corporate veil’ for a ltd aircraft group, the whole business world would colapse.