ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, February 14, 1996           TAG: 9602140052
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-6  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: SHERI PRASSO ASSOCIATED PRESS

LANDING AN AIR FARE TAX REFUND SOME CARRIERS DO IT FOR YOU; OTHERS LEAVE IT TO YOU

Did you really think getting a 10 percent tax refund on your airline ticket would be easy?

Millions who bought tickets in 1995 for travel after the first of the year are entitled to get back money they paid for a federal excise tax that expired. But getting the money might be as complicated as reading a flight schedule.

If you flew on United or American and paid with a credit card, the refund should show up on your monthly statement. But if you paid with a check or cash or flew on another airline, getting the money back can get tricky.

If you flew Continental, Northwest, USAir or TWA, you must call the Internal Revenue Service directly and request a ``Federal Excise Tax Refund Form'' or ``Form 8849.'' Then you need to know that the explanation goes in the section marked ``Other'' on the back of the form, and that you must attach a receipt.

Airlines such as Delta and Southwest are taking a middle route - helping passengers fill out the forms, but letting the IRS process them.

The tax expired at the end of 1995 because Congress was too busy with the budget to renew it.

One airline, ValuJet, based in Atlanta, continued charging the tax through January because it thought Congress would reinstate it retroactively. That never happened.

While the low-cost ValuJet airline will reimburse passengers who paid in December for travel in January, it hasn't developed a policy to make refunds to passengers who purchased tickets in January, spokeswoman Katie Denourie said. It stopped charging the tax Feb. 1.

But at American and United airlines, the companies decided to make automatic refunds and then seek the money from the IRS. Many who used American already have received refunds on their credit card statements.

People who paid some other way have to fill out a form and send it to American for a refund, spokesman Tim Smith said.

United Airlines spokesman Joe Hopkins said millions of affected passengers would see a credit card refund within the next few months, after the company programs its computers for the chore.

``We're in the service business, and it makes it easier for our customers,'' he said.

But at USAir, Continental, Northwest and TWA, customers are told to phone the IRS - at (800)TAX-FORMS - and request the refund themselves.

``We've just felt that since the government has the money, it's best that the passengers deal directly with the party that has the money,'' USAir spokesman Rick Weintraub said.

Although the IRS refund form is relatively easy to obtain, the IRS says it prefers that passengers first try their airlines, in part because it may not be clear exactly how to fill out the form.

``If the airline does not want to provide a refund or credit, the individual can file a claim form,'' IRS spokesman Wilson Fadely said.

The form does not say anything about air travel, but if passengers turn it over and write out an explanation in Section 9, where it says ``Other,'' the IRS will refund the money, Fadely said. Consumers also have to provide an original receipt.

Few passengers have filed for a refund, he said.

LENGTH: Medium:   67 lines
ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC:  Chart by AP: Airline tax refunds.