FAA/TAXES/TRADE DEALS: “Some overseas airlines would be forced to pay U.S. corporate taxes on part of their profits under a proposal in the Senate tax-overhaul bill that would upset decades of protocols governing international aviation.
In general, airlines only have to pay taxes in their own countries, not on income generated abroad. The U.S. and other nations have negotiated a web of tax treaties and formally recognized agreements that enshrine this principle.
The tax bill is due to go before the U.S. Senate in the coming days.
An amendment from Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.) could affect three big Persian Gulf carriers that have expanded rapidly in the U.S. in recent years from their home bases in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, according to people familiar with the provision. Those airlines—Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways—are already embroiled in a three-year old trade dispute with the three largest U.S. carriers, including Delta Air Lines Inc…
The proposed measure would need to pass the full Senate, then survive a reconciliation process with a House bill that lacks such language.”
-Susan Cornwall, “Senate Tax Bill Targets Some Foreign Airlines,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 27, 2017 10:10am