Air Miles

[iluvasians/latins]

Do any of you think governments will ever tax air miles and treat them as income, especially ones where employers let employees keep the miles as a part of doing business for the company?

[Mongster]

Wouldn't that be a bit difficult? How would you place a value on the miles with such variables in the real cost of a flight? Hell, I wouldn't put it past old Uncle Sam, but I think it would be tough for the IRS to chase. Just as an example when I recently booked my flight through United it gave me the option to save my miles and purchase the flight with $$. The cost of the flight would have been $5400 according to United. I have zero clue where this amount came from as when I priced out the flight via kayak I could get it for roughly $1400.

 

I use miles for my yearly trip to LOS and 50% of my miles are earned via non flight purchases with my rewards card. I already pay taxes on all the crap that goes on the card and then when I earn the miles and redeem them for my flight I pay all the taxes associated with flight. How many damn times do you want to tax me?

 

Like I said I think it would way to though to track and it would not be worth the effort to the government otherwise they would have already figured out a way to screw us.

[Highlander]

Under certain circumstances the Australian Tax Office can tax you on your frequent flyer / air miles so a government can change its laws accordingly.

 

 

3. TR 1999/6 - flight rewards

TR 1999/6 provides that flight rewards received under consumer loyalty programs are generally not taxable. However, it also notes that FBT may apply where:

·

 the employer and the employee have a family relationship and the flight reward is received in connection with the employment, or

·

 a flight reward is provided to an employee, or the employee's associate, under an 'arrangement' for the purposes of the 

Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986,

 that results from business expenditure.

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The flight reward might also be subject to income tax if they are received by an individual who

·

 renders a service on the basis that an entitlement to a flight reward will arise

·

 receives the flight reward as a result of business expenditure, or

·

 where the activities associated with the obtaining of the reward amount in themselves to a business activity.

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