AIR FARE TAXES BEING STUDIED.Byline: Jerry Jer·ry n. pl. Jer·ries Chiefly British Slang A German, especially a German soldier. [Alteration of German. Ackerman Boston Boston, town, England Boston, town (1991 pop. 26,495), E central England, on the Witham River. Boston's fame as a port dates from the 13th cent., when it was a Hanseatic port trading wool and wine. Having recovered from a decline in the 18th and 19th cent. Globe Travelers can expect to see the return of the 10 percent excise tax Excise Tax 1. An indirect tax charged on the sale of a particular good. 2. A penalty tax applied to ineligible transactions in retirement accounts. This penalty is assessed by and paid to the IRS. Notes: 1. on domestic airline tickets by year's end, and maybe sooner. Congress wants the tax back to pay the $5 billion a year it costs to operate the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control . That's likely to mean an additional upward push on air fares as airlines add the tax to their fares. When the tax expired ex·pire v. ex·pired, ex·pir·ing, ex·pires v.intr. 1. To come to an end; terminate: My membership in the club has expired. 2. Jan. 1, most airlines passed on the savings to their customers. Since then, surveys by travel agents and others have found the average domestic fare has gone up between 4 percent and 7 percent. Big airlines have objected to calculating the tax as a percentage of fare and argued for a user fee based on a flat per-seat charge - $6.50 for long-haul flights, $5.50 for commuter flights, plus one-half cent per passenger, per mile. Discount airlines, on the other hand, joined by carriers with lots of short routes, liked the 10 percent tax better because it tended to give them a price advantage. Congressional committees have stuck with the percentage tax because, among other things, it can be reduced easily if it is found to bring in more money than the FAA needs. |
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