100% Bonus Depreciation Revival (OBBBA) & MACRS Pooling in 2026 Corporate Aviation

Executive Summary

Signed into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying aircraft placed in service on or after January 20, 2025. Aircraft acquisitions in 2026 remain eligible for full immediate cost expensing, provided strict business use parameters are maintained.

Primary Intelligence Question

How should corporate aviation stakeholders structure 2026 aircraft acquisitions to ensure compliance with the IRC Section 280F Qualified Business Use (QBU) threshold of over 50% flight hours while maximizing 100% bonus depreciation eligibility under the OBBBA?

Key Intelligence

Under the OBBBA, 2026 aircraft acquisitions retain eligibility for 100% bonus depreciation if Qualified Business Use (QBU) exceeds 50% of total flight hours, as tested per-flight via contemporaneous logs. To mitigate risks near the 50% threshold, stakeholders must implement Part 91 dry-lease structures or adjusted ownership allocations before placement in service, as the brief explicitly states retroactive correction is impractical due to audit scrutiny at the individual-flight level. Compliance hinges on precise flight logs separating business and personal use, with no reliance on monthly estimates.

Key Compliance Metrics

• IRC Section 280F QBU Test: Qualified Business Use must exceed 50% of total flight hours.
• Depreciation Recapture Mitigation: Structural flight logs prevent forced ordinary income recognition upon audit.

Optimization Strategy

Aircraft owners structuring for the OBBBA-restored 100% bonus depreciation should prioritize contemporaneous flight logs that cleanly separate qualified business use from personal use on a per-flight basis, not a monthly estimate — IRC Section 280F's 50% QBU threshold is tested and can be challenged at the individual-flight level on audit. Where usage sits close to the 50% line, consider whether a Part 91 dry-lease structure or adjusted ownership allocation better protects the depreciation position before the aircraft is placed in service, since the QBU percentage is materially harder to correct retroactively than to structure correctly upfront.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is the effective date for 100% bonus depreciation eligibility under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) for corporate aircraft, and how long will it remain in effect?

A1: The OBBBA permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying aircraft placed in service on or after January 20, 2025, with 2026 acquisitions remaining eligible for full immediate cost expensing.

Q2: What specific compliance requirement must corporate aircraft owners meet to qualify for 100% bonus depreciation under IRC Section 280F, and how is Qualified Business Use (QBU) tested?

A2: Aircraft must meet the IRC Section 280F QBU Test, requiring Qualified Business Use to exceed 50% of total flight hours, with compliance tested per-flight (not monthly estimates) on audit. Contemporaneous flight logs separating business vs. personal use are critical.

Q3: What structural or operational strategies can mitigate risks for aircraft acquisitions where Qualified Business Use (QBU) is near the 50% threshold, and why is retroactive correction difficult?

A3: For aircraft near the 50% QBU threshold, consider Part 91 dry-lease structures or adjusted ownership allocations before placement in service. Retroactive correction is challenging because the QBU percentage is harder to modify post-service than to structure correctly upfront, as audit challenges are evaluated at the individual-flight level.