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Abstract: The simple swipe or tap of a credit card creates ripple effects that impact people and parties at every stage of the economic food chain. Throughout the last century, the credit card industry has been allowed to grow with practically no hindrance or foresight of its repercussions. Furthermore, the sector has been a welldocumented engine of increasing financial inequality, representing an area of the economy that necessitates more forceful regulation. Legislation regarding the credit card industry has largely focused on increasing and clarifying consumerfacing disclosure and stamping out its most predatory practices; however, these laws have been unable to make meaningful progress in advancing financial equity. This Note argues that increased financial equity in this industry can be achieved by taxing the rewards that people earn from their credit cards as if those rewards were regular income. By engaging in such a taxing scheme, the U.S. Congress, the Internal Revenue Service, and the courts can set an effective example and signal that the credit card industry can no longer act as an unrestricted private marketplace operating outside the norms of taxation.
INTRODUCTION
Air travel in the early part of the twentieth century has often been referred to as the golden age of flying, and it was a time marked by elegance, opulence, and extreme exclusivity.1 Airlines had piano lounges on the upper floors of their aircraft, served substantial meals to passengers in all classes of service, and travelers generally dressed up before boarding a flight-a far cry from the chaos that can define a trip to the airport today.2 Yet, before 1978, air travel was a luxury out of reach to most people.3
The wave of cheaper and more accessible travel began in the late-1970s as the U.S. federal government began the process of deregulating the airline industry.4 The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 (ADA) completely transformed the marketplace by doing away with the regulatory body that had long controlled air travel in the country.5 The passage of this law significantly reduced the federal government's oversight of the sector and opened up the market to more competition.6 Increased accessibility to air travel came around thanks in part to deregulation of the airline industry, but also due to the rise of the internet and...