Tag: refunds

Biden pushing airlines to go beyond refunds for delayed or canceled flights

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The White House said the expanded website will show that only one airline guarantees frequent flyer miles, and that two airlines guarantee travel credits or vouchers as compensation if passengers experience significant delays or cancelations that are caused by something within the airline’s control such as a mechanical issue. Zero airlines guarantee cash compensation for preventable delays and cancellations.
Biden and Buttigieg will officially announce the new effort at an appearance at the White House on Monday. The White House noted that three airlines, Alaska Airlines, Frontier Airlines and American Airlines, announced commitments to provide fee-free family seating after Biden included family seating fees as part of his attack on “junk fees” in this year’s State of the Union.
“When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,” Buttigieg said in a statement. “This rule would, for the first time in U.S. history, propose to require airlines to compensate passengers and cover expenses such as meals, hotels, and rebooking in cases where the airline has caused a cancellation or significant delay.”
Background: The announcement is another push by the White House to get ahead of a summer travel season that is predicted to exceed pre-pandemic travel levels in 2019.
Late last year, Southwest Airlines’ holiday meltdown stranded tens of thousands of passengers and prompted calls from Buttigieg and lawmakers to make travelers whole. Southwest responded by doling out rewards points and spending millions on hotels and other expenses for passengers who were stranded for days, though Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is pushing the airline to make public how many customers applied for reimbursements for ancillary expenses but were rejected.
Federal law does not require airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays. If a flight is canceled, a passenger can choose to receive a refund.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 8, 2023
Go First directed to issue refunds as it extends flight cancellations

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New Delhi: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief, Vikram Dev Dutt has directed Go First to provide refunds to passengers who have booked tickets on the airline’s cancelled flights within the time frame prescribed by the regulations.
Meanwhile, Go First has also responded to the DGCA’s show cause notice, which was issued on Tuesday after the airline cancelled flights without any prior notice due to a lack of funds and its voluntary bankruptcy filing.
In response, the airline stated that it is working to provide refunds or rescheduling options for passengers who have already booked to fly with them.

According to a DGCA official, Go First informed the DGCA that they have filed an application under Section 10 of the Insolvency Bankruptcy Code (IBC) before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
The airline also stated that it has suspended scheduled flight operations for three days starting from Wednesday and will take further action based on the outcome of the application before the NCLT.
After examining Go First’s response, the DGCA chief issued an order under the current regulations instructing the airline to process refunds for passengers within the prescribed timelines.
The DGCA official added that the organisation is committed to reducing passenger inconvenience caused by Go First’s sudden decision to suspend operations without any prior notice.
Go First has extended the cancellation of its flights until May 9, following its voluntary bankruptcy filing.

The airline had initially cancelled flights on Wednesday and Tursday, but it subsequently extended the cancellation to Friday.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 4, 2023
Tax refunds more scarce as filing deadline hits

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With the tax-filing deadline for most people hitting at midnight Tuesday, the total amount of money paid out is down too, by 10.6 percent. At $199 billion, that’s less than the IRS had disbursed at this point in 2013.
Analysts point to a number of reasons for the shrinking payments: The expiration of pandemic-related relief, of course, but other things too, such as bracket creep, where inflation pushes up people’s tax bills.
Taxpayers are touchy about their refunds, with many looking forward to the payments, even if financial advisers frown on them because it amounts to lending money to the government for free.
Hoping to head off people’s disgruntlement, the IRS warned early on that payments this year would inevitably be down. And the administration doesn’t appear to be taking heat over the smaller refunds, which have been overshadowed in Washington by its bid to improve IRS services.
It’s a big change from recent years when the government was handling out a range of benefits and refunds ballooned. This time last year, refunds were running 10 percent bigger — about $300 more than this year.
Companies that cater to lower-income people like Walmart and Big Lots have told investors they’ve noticed a difference.
“We’ve seen that decline,” John Rainey, Walmart’s chief financial officer said recently.
It’s not surprising though when a panoply of pandemic-related breaks expired. People saw the Child Tax Credit alone shrink by as much as $1,600 per child. Another related break for child care expenses fell from as much as $8,000 for two kids to $2,100.

“A lower refund share than last year would be consistent with the lower amount of refundable tax credits from the expiration of the 2021 tax law provisions,” said Mark Booth, a former tax forecaster for the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. “Last year, the larger tax credits were just enough to push some taxpayers into a refund position, which doesn’t happen as much this year.”
Payments are probably a casualty of inflation too.
The tax system is only partially indexed for inflation, and only imperfectly. The parts that change with prices didn’t climb nearly as much as incomes, thanks to time lags in how the government calculates the adjustments.
Nominal wages and salaries went up by nine percent in 2022, while things like the tax brackets and the standard deduction grew by 3.2 percent.
The administration has announced the standard deduction will grow for the 2023 tax year by seven percent, thanks to inflation, which will likely mean larger refunds assuming, as many economists do, that incomes will grow at a slower clip.
There are other factors also dinging people’s refunds.
Without much debate, lawmakers allowed to expire a temporary $600 break for charitable deductions for people who don’t itemize their deductions, which had been a popular write-off. In 2020, it was claimed by 41 million taxpayers. Without it, people who claim the standard deduction, about 90 percent of filers, can’t take a deduction for charitable contributions.
People who’ve been laid off have to pay taxes on their unemployment benefits and severance payments, which may also cut into their refunds. Some may not realize they owe tax on jobless assistance.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 18, 2023