If the airline industry can’t overturn the full-fare advertising rule legislatively, its Plan B is t

T o say that air travelers spend as much time complaining reno hotel casino about fees and surcharges as they do flying might not be much of an exaggeration. And now the airline reno hotel casino industry wants you to add another complaint to that list: taxes.
Air travelers are overtaxed, say the airline trade organization Airlines for America and a coalition reno hotel casino of other interest groups. In a campaign cleverly timed to coincide with this month's deadline for filing reno hotel casino federal income tax returns, they've called on Congress to "reform" reno hotel casino the way the government taxes U.S. fliers.
"We face a uniquely bad tax environment," says Steve Lott, an A4A spokesman. "The aviation industry and our passengers reno hotel casino currently pay 17 separate federal reno hotel casino taxes and fees, a hodgepodge thrown together and added to over the years without any guiding rationale or consideration for their overall impact on demand or affordability."
To illustrate its point, A4A posted a chart on its Web site showing taxes on air travel from 1972 to 2012 . The number of taxes jumped from five in 1972 to 11 two decades later and to 17 today. Those taxes, which can raise the cost of a round-trip airline ticket by 20 percent or more, include such charges as the $2.50 Sept. 11 fee to pay for airport security and the $3.80 flight segment tax, assessed each time a passenger takes off and lands.
reno hotel casino More taxes might be on the way. The administration's deficit reduction reno hotel casino plan includes increasing the passenger security fee, now between $5 and $10 per flight, to $15, with the possibility of future increases. Of the $24.9 billion the fee would raise over the next decade, $15 billion would be funneled toward reducing the national debt.
But the airline industry's latest push for lower taxes probably has more to do with another recent government action: the Transportation Department's requirement reno hotel casino that airlines and travel agents quote a fare that includes all government taxes and fees. Consumer advocates say that the regulation makes fares more honest, but airlines complain that it serves to conceal reno hotel casino the extent of government levies.
"There are two big issues with government taxes," says Michael reno hotel casino Miller, a vice president at the American Aviation Institute, a think tank that often takes industry-friendly positions. "First, the total amount of taxes is higher than [for] nearly all other consumer products. And second, the government reno hotel casino keeps adding to the consumer reno hotel casino burden, never replacing older taxes. New rules hiding government taxes from plain view on your ticket price make it even easier to add new taxes."
Air travelers don't seem as quick to judge. In more than two decades of advocating for consumers, I can count on one hand the number of airline tax complaints I've heard, and those usually involve an allegation that the airline is miscalculating taxes or in some way profiting from them.
For example, when Kenneth Babineaux checked reno hotel casino his Virgin America itinerary from Dallas to San Francisco a few weeks ago, he noticed a suspicious surcharge: a $33 "international" tax. Last time he checked, San Francisco reno hotel casino was part of the United States. What's reno hotel casino more, he says, a supervisor he reached by phone was rude and dismissive when asked about the fee. "I have no confidence in Virgin America now," says Babineaux, who works for a college near Houston. "And I haven't even flown them yet."
Jeremy Branham, a budget-travel blogger who has researched taxes and air travel, says that when air travelers become aware of taxes, they quickly conclude that they're paying too much. "In some cases, taxes and fees can account for as much as 50 percent of the total airfare price," he says. And that has a ripple effect, limiting reno hotel casino air travel and making American air carriers less competitive.
He's right. In a poll I posted on my Web site after a recent column on airline taxes, I asked readers whether they thought that they were paying too much in government taxes and fees. More than nine in 10 said yes. I'm inclined to agree.
Let me put it this way: If you take the Obama administration's misguided budget-reduction proposal reno hotel casino off the table and delete the DOT's new "all in" fare rule, would airlines still be pushing so hard to tell us that we're overtaxed?
I'm more inclined to believe that the airline industry, worried because its fares used to look 20 to 50 percent lower, is trying to figure out a way to keep us buying tickets. Once taxes and fees are added to the price, the illusion of inexpensive fares is impossible to maintain.
Ironically, while finding religion about "hidden" taxes, airlines reno hotel casino continue to engage in pricing legerdemain by making it as difficult as possible for passengers to discover extra fees for baggage, seat selection, telephone help, food, pillows, blankets — basically, anything that isn't attached to the plane. (Just try comparing fares if you want to check a suitcase, reserve a seat and order lunch. reno hotel casino I'll wait.)
If the airline industry can't overturn the full-fare advertising reno hotel casino rule legislatively, its Plan B is tax reform. The source of the air travel tax dissatisfaction matters. If it's a nonissue to passengers like you and me, then lowering these taxes will be about as difficult as persuading an airline to eliminate or even disclose its fees and surcharges. In the past half-decade, those add-ons have multiplied at an even more alarming rate than any taxes.
Wait. Part of my airline taxes goes towards the national debt? Isn t that what income tax is for? Why add that tax burden on travelers? Or is it because only the rich can travel? That notion is antiquated these days.
I think many of the individual taxes are reasonable, but when you add it up and some of the ones that have been around for a long time (if it wasn t increased then they either never needed it or still don t need it).  But I think expanding taxes, especially to pay down the National Debt is too far.
I m certainly in favor of lower taxes.  Who isn t?  (Oh yeah, Obama and the Democrats.)  But having a tax for security is certainly reasonable (though we can disagree about how much and what kind of security).  So is a tax for building and operating airports.  The tax structure could certainly be modified, unified and streamlined.  As for the airlines complaining about having to show us the bottom line, (bleep) them they brought it on themselves by their dishonesty.
Included in this tax one labeled YQ.  Looking at this more closely, it is not a tax levied by any government, but rather a surcharge levied by the airline, disclosed if you click on the correct links.  However, it is lumped in under the line item tax, which is a little deceptive.  Even call this amount Tax and fees or Tax and surcharge would be more legit.
I pay 6 cents tax on a $1 cup of coffee, if I bought 300 cups in a year, that s only $18 in tax on $300 in purchases. (McDonalds any size!) So if airline reno hotel casino tickets are not overtaxed is my coffee UNDERtaxed?
But isn t a reason for the plethora of new fees for baggage, seats, pillows, phone help, etc. due to the fact that there is NO tax on such things as opposed reno hotel casino to the airfare itself?  If so, the much-loathed Spirit might be the wave of the future as airlines try to circumvent the taxes. reno hotel casino A scary thought.
Hey fellow reno hotel casino Americans, our government taxes us 7.5% of the fare we pay on a domestic (including to/from 225 miles of Canada and Mexico) ticket plus $3.80 for each flight segment (take-off and landing). The more expensive your fare, the larger the amount of the percentage tax collected, but the percentage (7.5%) is the same. However, the flight segment tax is a fixed amount , so connecting flights reno hotel casino are taxed more than nonstop flights. The more the connections, the more flight segment tax you will pay. The tax is imposed at the time payment is made for the flight, not on the date of the flight itself. The taxes collected are deposited into the Airport and Airway reno hotel casino Trust Fund.  This fund is used to improve reno hotel casino and maintain the nation's airports and airways.
The tax percentage and flight segment  is an EXCISE tax based on the amount you PAID for the transportation. (Note: if you have a FREE i.e. AWARD ticket, you don t pay these taxes.) reno hotel casino The person liable for the tax is the person making the payment for the taxable transportation.  The person receiving the payment, the collector (airline), reports the collection using the IRS Form 720 excise tax return, and deposits the collections to the Federal Government by electronic funds transfer.
Perhaps more glaring than taxes is the higher fare that airlines charge for a 769 mile flight between reno hotel casino PIA and RDU compared to a 2,461 mile flight between JFK and LAX. Shouldn t we be more concerned that airlines charge a flight 3x shorter 1.4x more?
The traveler from Peoria to Raleigh reno hotel casino paid more taxes because his fare was higher and because the airlines did not offer a direct flight between these 2 cities (causing more enplanements). Is that the government s fault?
You are the exception. You actually care how your ticket costs are broken down. One problem with all in pricing is most people don t..such as gasoline. This leads the way for new taxes to be quietly added with no real backlash from the consumer. (And yes, there is a new one in the administration s budget proposal.)
Prior to all in pricing laws. The site I use to compare airline ticket prices gave me the base, tax and total. Now, I only see the total and have to make the extra step to see the breakdown. Based on past comments on this topic, most people don t care about the taxes and government fees.
So the item you purchased once is being perpetually taxed for the privilege of owning it.   You could say the same for property taxes.Those taxes over time amount to more than a 20% tax on airline tickets.
I guess the point I m trying to make is we re comparing apples and oranges user specific taxes vs. general taxes.   Each tax is levied reno hotel casino because responsible government a) feels like that particular population can afford the tax and/or b) to generate revenue for specific (i.e. security screening) or genera