Credit card rewards on purchases are not taxable events. They are considered refunds/rebates by the IRS.
In this scenario United Airlines is compensating people for a service, so these airline miles are considered income. That is why they need to compute the dollar value of those miles in order to report the tax burden. This happens whenever someone is paid with something other than dollars, and when people barter.
In this scenario United Airlines is compensating people for a service, so these airline miles are considered income. That is why they need to compute the dollar value of those miles in order to report the tax burden. This happens whenever someone is paid with something other than dollars, and when people barter.