THE IRS AND AIR MILES, AND OTHER BENEFITSWhen the IRS issued a ruling that Air Miles was not a taxable benefit, someone in their executive offices must have been smoking grass. People are traveling all over the world, flying to Germany, Thailand, all around the U.S., millions and millions of dollars in
free Air Miles and not a cent in taxes paid on them.
Come on, who is deceiving whom? Who got paid off on this one? Which CEO of Visa, MasterCard, Citicorp, MBNA, or American Express took some Senator or Washington big-wig to Tahiti for a couple of weeks?
Banks charge every business a percentage on every single sale on a credit or charge card, screwing them over royally. That, of course, is deductible as a business expense. So, billions of dollars are deducted each and every year, and the government loses billions in taxes.
The banks (through Visa and MasterCard) then give out travel certificates, worth hundreds to thousands of dollars, and (usually) rich people benefit the most, or let's say, the middle-class to upper, and upper-upper-class.
They pay no taxes on this! None. Zip. That's a tax break, a big one. That's also a lot of bull, a pile of bull. It is income to them, because they don't spend their own money in one way, but OUR money (business owner's money) that went into their pockets, and it is a bribe. It is no different than the old Mafia collection racket. (See: www.howardsviews.com to read more on this.)
IT IS TAXABLE INCOME, REAL TAXABLE INCOME AND SHOULD BE REPORTED ON THEIR TAX RETURNS. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT. THE IRS SHOULD REVISIT THIS QUESTION.
