Originally Posted by
pinniped
Wonder if we might arrive at a day where TYP, UR, Amex MR, etc. are taxable even if FF miles are not??? I'd still cling to the argument that the points are a promotional item, but in the case of getting them for banking it's clear that the IRS might not fully agree.
Same dead horse or a different dead horse?
Maybe same; if not, very similar.
I agree FF miles and hotel points are hard to value, but Citi, at least in some cases, puts a specific value on TYP points (e.g., 1.6 cents each when a Prestige cardholder makes an AA purchase).
If I need to book an AA flight and my choice is to either pay $800 cash or redeem 50,000 TYP points, and I do the latter, it's hard to argue I got $0 in actual value.
If I get 2 percent cash back or 2 percent's worth of TYP on a 3 percent swipe fee, I suppose one could define that as a rebate. But it's harder to argue "rebate" if I get $800 worth of TYP after swiping the card for just $3,000 in purchases.