GBTA to Feds: Stop Treating Travelers Like Cash Cows

The Global Business Travel Association lambasted the government for aggravating the tax burden on business travelers.

A billion dollars in new travel taxes over the next year was part of a solution devised by Congress this week to avert another government shutdown in early 2014.

TSA fee hike
Under the agreement, the Transportation Security Agency aviation security fee will increase from $2.50 per segment to $5.60 starting in 2014.

The deal, which caps fees at $5 per one-way trip and $10 per roundtrip, will cost travelers an additional $13 billion over the next decade, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Mike McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO, said government should stop treating business travelers like walking ATMs that can be tapped on demand.

“A tax by any other name is still a tax,” he said in a statement.

Adding insult to injury
“To aggravate the damage to business and U.S. businesses’ ability to conduct business effectively, the new revenue will not be used to fund programs that benefit travelers.”

McCormick blasted the action, saying, “Business travelers are not bottomless piggy banks. Punishing a key driver of economic growth (travel) is the wrong approach.” Earlier last week, the GBTA reported that the tax burden on business travelers rose an average 58% in 2013.

Airlines, air travel interest groups, and the Global Business Travel Association, among other groups, lobbied Congress to kill the new TSA tax before it was proposed.

Covering TSA costs
The current TSA levy covers about 30% of the actual cost of TSA operations, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and the White House. The new fee will cover about 60% of TSA costs.