1353513636

Can someone write a form letter against this legislation so that all (most) FT-ers can send to their Congress representatives?

relangford

I have contacted my Congressman (not on the committee) and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Airlines Sub-committee to voice my opposition to this bill, but, with all the money flowing from the airlines, I suspect our complaints will be ignored and they can again advertise unrealistic "air fares". And, to those who feels that ignoring taxes in advertising is OK, I know exactly what my sales tax is - I find it difficult to to even estimate air fare taxes (which include some wierd charges as well as payouts to individual airports). I, for one, do not want to wait until after I have purchased to see all the add-on taxes; I want to know what I have to pay for the ticket before I buy it.

cbn42

Your employer does not pay taxes on your income, you do. The employer is just remitting them to the IRS on your behalf. However these payments are still your responsibility, and you need to make sure that the full amount you owe is paid.

The portion of the taxes that your employer is responsible for (the employer share of payroll taxes) is not included in your salary offer because it is paid by the employer.

Jerseyguy

Whats to stop cosumers seeing this now? Laziness. Americans are lazy, plain and simple, not enough people care. The way things are now, people look at the $300 fare that includes taxes and doesn't really comprehend that $50 of it are going to the goverment/airport That $50 turns into $70 because the tax goes up, most people think, greedy airline is charging me more now. Some people might hear a story about it but even those people will forget a month later and then blame the airline. When they see $250 for the airfare, click next and its suddenly $300, they realize that hey yeah, the goverments taking $50 from me (whether they think this is a reasonable fee for what the goverment does thats irrelevant). PS there is no misleading of the public by doing this, X is the amount charged by the airline Y is the amount charged by the goverment and the airports. Might be easier for the consumer but its unfair to the airline. Europe does it where they quote the total price including VAT but if I charged that much in taxes, I'd sure want it to be harder for the citizens to realize it.

1353513636

It's been repeated multiple times on the thread that it is currently legal to disclose the price before taxes as long as the price after taxes is also shown. Airlines can even advertise "We only want $200 but your GREEDY government wants $100, so you have to pay $300." Most of us here agree that this isn't about taxes, it's about surcharges and other things like airport fees which are just part of doing business and shouldn't be it's own separate fee.

travelinmanS

These airlines and congresspeople have no shame. The USA is turning into a disgusting country that treats it's citizens with contempt, similar to how the airlines treat their customers. Congress should be enacting laws that help citizens, not ones that help airlines who are happy to, at the drop of a hat, outsource all their maintenance to foreign countries killing jobs at home. It still frosts me every time I fly thru HKIA and see 10 Delta and UA planes getting their heavy maintenance done there and no planes from other countries. The citizens of the USA need to wake up before they become completely overrun by corporations.

OK...there goes my daily rant

gooselee

Too late.

cbn42

How is it unfair to the airline? All airlines are subject to the same regulations and the taxes are the same for all airlines.

Everyone is aware that airfare is taxed. That is just common sense. Anyone who wants to know how much the tax is can look at the receipt and see.

Jerseyguy

Yep, most people are aware that airfare is taxed, but most people don't know how big that tax is and thats what the goverment is planning on.

cbn42

If the airlines want to let the passengers know how big that tax is, there is nothing stopping them.

gooselee

Interestingly, a thread just popped up in the MR forum (I think, can't tell for sure on mobile app) of Vietnam Airlines advertising something like USD$6 flights.

Comes out to over $100 after taxes, fees, and other charges for a short hop.

BearX220

Form letters, when they arrive in multiples, have little to no effect. Find out who your congressman is, write a three-sentence email (steal from the clear language in this thread if you have to), and hit send. Elapsed time: five minutes.

DaddyRabbit

The soda story is a good one, but that is the same in my state: purchase the soda and the state sales tax is added. I know that that is.

However, with airline fares, ther are TSA charges, landing fees, fuel surcharges, government taxes, etc. Not telling us that the entire price is is deceptive and un-American.

duniawala

No different than hotel advertising the price of a room "based on double occupancy". That should be banned also.

duniawala

Oh lordy lordy. Make this a socialist country, really?