What Is the Federal Excise Tax on Private Jet Flights?

How it works

Federal Excise Tax, usually shortened to FET, is a United States federal tax on amounts paid for "taxable transportation" by air. It is imposed under 26 U.S.C. § 4261 and administered by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), not by the FAA. This describes the position as of 22 September 2026; the rates and thresholds below are indexed and revised periodically.

FET generally applies to commercial, for-hire flying, which in US private aviation means flights operated under 14 CFR Part 135 charter authority. It has two domestic components: a percentage tax on the amount paid for the flight, and a flat domestic segment fee charged per passenger for each take-off and landing. For international itineraries, a separate flat international travel facilities tax applies instead of the percentage and segment fees, for flights beginning or ending outside the United States or within a defined border zone.

Flights flown under 14 CFR Part 91, where the aircraft owner or a permitted party retains operational control and no fare is charged, are generally not subject to FET on the transportation charge, though the aircraft still pays federal tax on the fuel it burns. Where a management company operates an owner's aircraft and the question of who holds "possession, command and control" is unclear, the applicability of FET has historically been contested; the US FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 added a statutory carve-out narrowing when certain aircraft management services trigger the tax.

Fractional ownership programme flights sit under a separate regime. Since the 2012 legislative change, fractional flights are generally taxed through a per-gallon fuel tax under 26 U.S.C. § 4043 rather than through the percentage-based FET, on the reasoning that the programme, not the flying passenger, is treated as the taxable party.

There is no direct UK or EU equivalent of FET. The UK charges Air Passenger Duty, administered by HM Revenue & Customs, which is a flat per-passenger charge banded by distance and cabin class rather than a percentage of the fare, and it is levied differently again from FET's mix of a percentage tax and per-segment fees.

Cost impact

FET appears as a distinct line on a US Part 135 charter invoice, calculated on the amount charged for the flight itself. It is paid by the charter client but collected and remitted by the operator, so it does not change what the operator keeps; it changes what the client is billed.

The percentage component adds a fixed proportion to the charter price, so it scales with the price of the trip: a more expensive aircraft or a longer flight produces a larger tax in dollar terms even at the same percentage. The domestic segment fee is charged per passenger per segment, so an itinerary with several stops accumulates more of this flat fee than a single non-stop flight, even if the total flying time is similar.

What counts as "amount paid for transportation" can extend to charges bundled into the charter price, such as certain fuel surcharges, while separately itemised charges such as some FBO handling fees, catering or de-icing may or may not be taxable depending on how the operator structures the invoice. This varies by operator and by how the contract itemises charges, so a reader comparing quotes should check whether a quoted hourly rate is stated inclusive or exclusive of FET. Jet card programmes differ in the same way: some build FET into the published hourly rate, others itemise it separately on each trip invoice; the card agreement, not any industry norm, sets which.

Example

Suppose, for illustration, a Part 135 charter operator quotes $10,000 for a one-way domestic US flight carrying four passengers, flown as a single segment. The percentage tax at 7.5% is 0.075 multiplied by $10,000, giving $750. The domestic segment fee is a flat, IRS-indexed amount per passenger; taking an illustrative approximate figure of $5 per passenger for four passengers gives a further $20.

On this illustrative trip, FET adds approximately $770 to the $10,000 charter price, taking the total before any other fees to approximately $10,770. Had the same passengers flown with one intermediate stop, a second domestic segment fee would apply, adding a further illustrative $20 for that additional landing, even though the percentage tax stays tied to the total amount paid rather than the number of stops.