2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XIV - Public Ways and Works › Chapter 90 - Motor Vehicles and Aircraft › Section 49 - Registration of Federal Certificates; Fees; Exceptions

Section 49. Each resident airman, and owner and operator, or owner or operator, of all aircraft and dealer in aircraft shall register the federal certificate of said airman, aircraft or dealer in aircraft in such manner as the commission may by regulation prescribe.
(a) Subject to the limitations of paragraphs (c) and (e), every person who pilots an aircraft within the commonwealth shall register his federal airman's certificate with the commission and shall renew such registration annually thereafter for those years in which he pilots an aircraft within the commonwealth. The commission may charge for each such registration and for each renewal thereof, a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven.
(b) Subject to the limitations of paragraphs (c) and (e), every person who operates an aircraft shall register the federal aircraft certificate of said aircraft with the commission during each period in which the aircraft is operated within the commonwealth. Every person who is a dealer in aircraft shall register his federal dealer's aircraft registration certificate with the commission. The commission may charge fees for each such registration and for each renewal thereof. Further, the commission may charge for the registration of each federal dealers aircraft registration certificate and for each aircraft in his possession operated solely for the purpose of sale or demonstration. The amounts of said fees and charges shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven. Such fees shall be in lieu of all personal property taxes on aircraft authorized by any law, ordinance or by-law. Registration certificates issued after expiration of the first six months of the annual registration period, as prescribed by the commission, shall be issued upon payment of fifty percent of the annual fee.
(c) Possession of the appropriate effective federal certificate, permit, rating or license relating to competency of the pilot or ownership and airworthiness of the aircraft, as the case may be, and the payment of the appropriate fee as set forth in this section, shall be the only requisites for registration of a pilot, an aircraft, or a dealer in aircraft.
(d) Aircraft registration fees shall be reimbursed to persons who surrender their certificates before the date of expiration in accordance with the following schedule:—
Before the first six months of the period, seventy-five per cent of said fee;
Before the first twelve months of the period, fifty per cent;
Before the first eighteen months of the period, twenty-five per cent.
(e) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
(1) an aircraft owned by, and used exclusively in the service of, any government, including the government of the United States or of any state thereof, or political subdivision thereof, which is not engaged in carrying persons or property for commercial purposes;
(2) an aircraft registered under the laws of a foreign country;
(3) an aircraft owned by a non-resident and based in another state;
(4) an aircraft engaged principally in federally certificated scheduled airline operation having a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board of the United States or its successor;
(5) a person piloting an aircraft engaged principally in federally certificated scheduled airline operation;
(6) a person piloting an aircraft owned by, and used exclusively in the service of, any government, including the government of the United States or of any state thereof, or political subdivision thereof, which is not engaged in carrying persons or property for commercial purposes;
(7) a person piloting an aircraft registered under the laws of a foreign country;
(8) a non-resident piloting aircraft within the commonwealth;
(9) a person operating model aircraft;
(10) a person piloting an aircraft equipped with fully functioning dual controls when a properly certificated pilot is in full charge of one set of said controls and such flight is solely for instruction or for the demonstration of said aircraft to a bona fide prospective purchaser.