Can Professional Flight Crews Deduct Vehicle Expenses?

The question often arises as to whether professional flight crews can deduct vehicle expenses related to their aviation employment. The answer is, “yes,” but only a few situations allow flight crews to take the vehicle tax deduction.

Flight crews must realize that vehicle expenses related to commuting are NOT tax deductible. That means the expenses associated with a daily commute to a pilot’s or a flight attendant’s hub or even a weekly commute to a domicile via another city cannot be written off from that flight crewmember’s tax return. Example: Assume a flight attendant lives in Dallas, TX and commutes to St. Louis once a week. That flight attendant’s weekly drive to the Dallas Airport is NOT deductible. The flight attendant’s parking fees, crashpad, and tolls cannot be written off. In fact, in most cases, vehicle expenses for airline flight crews are not tax deductible.

There are a few cases, however, in which a flight crewmember can deduct vehicle expenses. Assume a pilot or flight attendant is on a temporary duty assignment (TDY) at another airport. In that case, the pilot or flight attendant’s vehicle expenses are tax deductible. A temporary assignment is one that is realistically expected to last (and does in fact last) for one year or less. You can learn more about temporary duty assignments via IRS Publication 463.

Flight crews might also be able to deduct vehicle expenses related to pilot training or flight attendant training, airline union meetings, airline functions, airline assignments, if they are not at your tax home (your domicile in most cases).

The important thing to remember is that if the situation does allow pilots or flight attendants to deduct vehicle expenses, definitely do so. Professional flight crews can benefit greatly by including these expenses in their airline related business expenses on IRS Form 2106.