It was in 2021 when a teenager named Jack Sweeney became famous for tracking Elon Musk’s jet and posting the details on Twitter. Many eco-warriors joined the college student to set up similar Twitter accounts to shame billionaires on the environmental impact caused by their private jet travel. While Musk bought Twitter and changed the rules to stifle such accounts, the IRS has now jumped on the bandwagon to track the jet travels of high net-worth individuals. According to a Bloomberg report, the IRS will initiate three to four dozen new audits this spring to trace tax evasion committed by ultra-wealthy people who use corporate jets for personal use.
This is the latest step taken by the IRS to target rich tax dodgers. The cost of using a corporate jet for business use is generally deductible under tax laws. However, many business jet users blur the lines between business and personal travel to avoid paying taxes. According to IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, the agency will initially go after the “highest risk” corporations and complex partnerships in several industries and shift focus to audit individuals if needed. “We are concerned people are using business aircraft for personal use, and in turn, then taking the business deduction that they may not be fully entitled to,” Werfel said. “Personal use of corporate jets and other aircraft by executives and others have personal and business tax implications and it’s a complex area where IRS work had been stretched thin.”
Billionaires and celebrities often come under severe criticism for using private jets for travel. The whole feud between Jack Sweeney and Elon Musk added fuel to the situation, bringing focus on other ultra-rich individuals across the world. Many people, including Sweeney himself, believe that the Twitter bot tracking Musk’s jet travel was one of the reasons why the Tesla CEO bought the social media platform. However, Musk has claimed that his decision to buy Twitter was spurred by its failure to uphold the principles of free speech. Fed up by constant criticism and tracking bots, the world’s richest person, Bernard Arnault, sold his private jet two years back and started renting business jets instead. It will be interesting to see if the new move by the IRS will put more pressure on billionaires.
