Last week I wrote and told you that according to the IRS website, passengers who paid for tickets on or before July 22, 2011, for travel beginning on or after July 23, 2011, may be entitled to a refund of the tax. The IRS even went so far as to request that the airlines refund the tax to passengers when requested to do so. But most airlines didn’t charge the tax they simply increased the cost of airfare so the end result was the same to you the consumer.
On August 5th the IRS not only reinstated the expired taxes on airfare but made it retroactive. So does that mean that if you bought your airline ticket between July 23rd and August 4th, that the IRS now wants you to pay the taxes? Well they have issued a statement that says they intend to provide relief for passengers and airlines regarding ticket taxes that were not paid or collected because of the lapse.
So I guess this means that if the airlines charged the tax they owe it to the IRS and do not have to issue the consumer the refund, but if they did not charge the taxes the consumer does not have to pay the IRS the tax. I’m not sure anybody came out the winner in this little mess.