Sales tax rules vary by state more than almost anything else in an aircraft purchase, and fly-away exemptions can eliminate that cost entirely, if you get the timing and paperwork right. Here's how the mechanism actually works, and what each state we cover charges.
General educational information, not tax advice. Sales and use tax outcomes are fact specific to your state, residency, and use. Engage a licensed tax advisor before closing.
Two separate state-level tax questions come up on almost every aircraft purchase, and buyers routinely conflate them. Our bonus depreciation guide covers state conformity to federal income tax depreciation rules, meaning whether your state lets you claim the same 100 percent bonus depreciation on your state return that you claim federally. This page covers something entirely different: state sales and use tax on the purchase itself, plus the fly-away exemptions that can reduce or eliminate it for a nonresident buyer. Read both, but don't assume one answers the other's question.
Sales tax is charged once, generally at closing, based on where the aircraft is delivered, registered, or hangared, not where you personally live. Use tax is the companion charge some states apply when sales tax wasn't collected at purchase, most often on private-party or out-of-state transactions. Several states also layer on an annual personal property tax, a separate, recurring charge assessed on the aircraft's value year after year, which is a different animal from either sales or use tax.
Most states with a sales tax offer some version of a fly-away or nonresident exemption: buy the aircraft in the state, remove it within a defined window, and register or base it elsewhere, and the state waives its own sales tax on the transaction. The details vary meaningfully by state, and the differences are exactly where buyers get tripped up.
This is orientation, not a substitute for advice from a tax professional licensed in the specific state. Rates and exemptions change, and your situation (business use, residency, where the aircraft will actually be based) changes the answer. Click through to the full page for any state you're considering.
| State | Sales/use tax approach | Notable feature |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | No state sales tax; some boroughs/municipalities levy local sales tax independently | One of 5 states with no state-level sales tax |
| Arizona | State and local rate applies, exemptions available | See full state page for detail |
| California | 7.25% to ~10.75% combined, active use-tax enforcement | 12-month entry presumption |
| Colorado | State and local rate applies, two-part nonresident exemption | Fuel excise tax replaces property tax |
| Florida | State sales tax applies, fly-away exemption available | No state income tax |
| Georgia | 4% state rate plus local option tax, no general fly-away exemption | Narrow exception for Georgia-manufactured aircraft only |
| Illinois | 6.25% use tax on non-dealer transfers | Narrow nonresident exemption, individuals only |
| Kansas | 6.5% state rate plus local, 10-day fly-away window | Business-use property tax exemption available |
| Nevada | State and local rate applies | No state income tax |
| New York | Broad exemption for most civil, noncommercial aircraft | Includes business jets, plus maintenance and parts |
| North Carolina | Flat $2,500 cap regardless of price | Effective rate falls as price rises |
| Ohio | Standard state and local rate, $800 cap on fractional interests | Licensed aircraft exempt from property tax |
| Oregon | None; one of five states with no general sales tax | No property tax on registered aircraft either |
| Tennessee | State and local rate applies | No state income tax |
| Texas | 6.25% state rate, fly-away exemption available | No state income tax |
| Utah | State and local rate applies | See full state page for detail |
| Virginia | Separate 2% aircraft-specific tax, not the general sales tax | 60-day fly-away window, no cap |
| Washington | 6.5% to ~10.6% combined | New luxury tax above $500,000, effective April 2026 |
| Wisconsin | 5% state rate plus up to 0.5% local | Parts and labor exemption for noncommercial aircraft |
See our Loans by State hub for the full list of states we cover, including financing terms alongside the tax picture for each.
None of this is tax advice. Aircraft sales and use tax outcomes are fact specific, and the right answer depends on your residency, business use, and where the aircraft will actually be based. Engage an aviation tax advisor licensed in the relevant state before you close, especially on a six-figure-and-up purchase.
Most buyers' regular CPA or attorney has never handled an aircraft closing, and general sales tax or business law experience doesn't automatically transfer to aviation, where fly-away exemptions, use-tax presumptions, and FAA title and registration rules all intersect with state tax law in ways a generalist may not catch. That's not a knock on your existing advisors, it's just a reason to add a specialist to the file for this specific transaction.
"Tell me the state where you're buying and where you'll base the aircraft, and I can walk you through what actually applies, and how it's different from the bonus depreciation question."
