Updated . Educational only — not tax, legal, or lending advice. Confirm figures with your CPA, the state revenue department, and a lender before you close.
Virginia’s 2% Aircraft Sales and Use Tax
Virginia’s general sales-tax rate is 5.30% in the 2026 compilation, but aircraft are not taxed at that rate. They are taxed under a separate aircraft sales and use tax of 2%. Industry guidance describes a 60-day fly-away window and no dollar cap on the 2% tax. Two percent of a large number is still a large number.
What is different about this state
What the state rate does to a real purchase
| Purchase price | Tax at 2% aircraft-specific tax (not the 5.30% general rate) |
|---|---|
| $250,000 (light piston) | $5,000 |
| $1,500,000 (turboprop-class) | $30,000 |
Local tax is not in that table. Add it before you toggle “finance taxes” in the calculator, or the principal will be short on closing day.
How this hits the loan
Sales and use tax is usually due at closing, in cash, even when the aircraft itself is financed. If the lender will finance it, the tax becomes principal and you pay interest on it for the whole term. Model both versions. A lower rate state is not automatically a lower ownership state: registration excise, property tax, and insurance territory sit outside the sales-tax line. Read how Section 179 and bonus depreciation work in 2026 next to this page. They are income-tax rules, not a credit against sales tax, and several of these states have no income tax for them to reduce.
Questions buyers actually ask
Does buying the aircraft in Oregon avoid Virginia’s tax?
Only if the aircraft is genuinely based in a no-tax state. Use tax follows where the aircraft is based and used. Oregon has no sales tax to pay, and it does not cancel the base state’s tax.
Can the lender finance the tax?
Sometimes, if you ask before the commitment letter and the combined loan-to-value still fits. The calculator’s “finance taxes” toggle shows the payment difference. It does not promise that a lender will allow it.
Is this the number I put on the closing statement?
No. It is a planning figure dated September 22, 2026. Local rates, exemptions, and caps change. Your CPA or aviation tax attorney is the source for the wire amount.
Sources
- Virginia Tax — confirm the figure that applies to your closing.
- 2026 state general rates: Tax Foundation compilation as republished in Jaken Aviation’s 2026 state table.
- Aircraft-specific caps, exemptions, and fly-away descriptions other than California: Flying Finance’s 2026 state notes. California’s trade-in, hangar-city, and 12-month rules are from CDTFA.
- All states: state tax hub.
Tax worksheet
State rate is prefilled from the figure discussed on this page. Local rate starts at zero because this site does not invent a county rate. Look up the hangar address. A cap of zero means no cap. The exemption box is for states where an aircraft exemption is the rule, not the exception.
What Virginia Tax says on its aircraft page
Virginia Tax describes the aircraft sales and use tax as 2 percent of the purchase price, not the general retail sales-tax rate. If you bought the aircraft elsewhere and license it in Virginia six months or more after moving it, the 2 percent applies to the purchase price or current market value, whichever is lower. If you move the aircraft outside Virginia within 60 days of purchase, Virginia Tax says you do not owe the aircraft sales and use tax. People who store an aircraft in Virginia more than 90 days in a calendar year can owe the tax. Exemptions are listed in Va. Code § 58.1-1505, and the tax itself sits in §§ 58.1-1500 through 1510. The watercraft tax on the same page has a $2,000 maximum. That cap is for watercraft, not aircraft. Do not type 2000 into the aircraft cap box. Individual buyers file Form AST-3 before the Department of Aviation will license the aircraft. Source: tax.virginia.gov.
Local tax is a second rate, not a footnote
On Virginia, the state percentage is the part people memorize and the local percentage is the part that changes the wire. Cities, counties, and special districts add their own sales or use tax in most states. The hangar address, not the buyer’s house and not the seller’s office, is the situs question you ask the state. California’s tax agency says the use-tax rate is the rate where the aircraft is principally hangared. Other states are not identical, but “look up the address” is the habit that prevents a four-figure surprise. The worksheet’s local box starts at zero so this site is not inventing a county. A zero you did not look up is not a plan.
How to use the tax worksheet
Type the contract price. Leave the state rate unless counsel gives you a different aircraft-specific rate. Type the local add-on from the state’s rate map. If this state caps aircraft tax, the cap box is already filled and the result will not exceed it. If an exemption is the normal rule, the exemption box starts checked and the result is zero until you uncheck it. The number is still not the wire. Credits for tax paid to another state, trade-in rules, and fly-away paperwork can change it. California, for example, taxes the full purchase price including the value of a trade-in. That rule is on the California page and in the CDTFA aircraft purchaser guide. Do not assume every state works that way, and do not assume California works like a car trade-in.
What this tax is not
Sales and use tax is a purchase tax. It is not annual property tax, not an aircraft registration excise, and not federal income tax. A state with a low purchase tax can still charge you every year to base the aircraft there. Bonus depreciation does not pay the sales tax. Financing the tax, when a lender allows it, turns the tax into principal. Model that in the loan calculator with the tax percent filled in, then compare it with paying the tax in cash. Interest on financed tax is the cost of not writing the check.
Fly-away is paperwork, not a personality
A fly-away exemption, where it exists, removes the purchase state’s tax when the aircraft leaves and is based somewhere else, inside a deadline, with documents signed at closing. It does not remove the base state’s use tax. Oregon has no state sales tax to remove. A California owner who takes delivery in Oregon still has California’s rules, including the 12-month presumption described by CDTFA. Copy the deadline from the state that is actually claiming the tax. Virginia publishes 60 days. Colorado’s industry write-ups describe a longer and stranger clock. Georgia may not offer the general version at all. If the contract does not mention the exemption, you do not have one.
Updated September 23, 2026. Not tax advice.