NBTA, Congress Seek Investigation Into Unused Airline Ticket Taxes
NBTA newsletter, 3/20/2009
At the interest of NBTA members and the corporate travel community, NBTA last year began collecting data on unused, non-refundable ticket taxes. To determine how much money is lost in non-refunded taxes and what becomes of that money, NBTA has worked closely with Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) to request an official U.S. Government study.
Rep. Pascrell has requested via letter to the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the agency review and report on the auditing and oversight mechanisms related to federal taxes and fees paid as part of the purchase of commercial airline tickets that are not utilized by the purchaser.
GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Often called the "congressional watchdog," GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. The fees and taxes currently levied on commercial passenger tickets include:
- Domestic Passenger Ticket Tax
- Domestic Flight Segment Tax
- Passenger Ticket Tax for Rural Airports
- International Arrival and Departure Tax
- Flights between U.S. and Alaska and Hawaii
- Passenger Civil Aviation Security Fee or "September 11 Security Fee"
- APHIS Passenger Fee
- Customs Air Passenger Inspection Fee or "CBP User Fee"
- Immigration User Fee
- Frequent Flyer Tax
To read Rep. Pascrell's letter to the GAO, click here.