Commuting - League Urges Support Of Commuter Bill

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/bicycleretailer/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1611716

well, i really hope that it passes and is implemented. it really should be! as cycling to work contributes even less to congestion and stress on transportation infrastructure than car-pooling or public transit (or solo driving). i guess the only difficult aspect is documenting since you don't generate any paper for the IRS proving that you biked to work -- maybe your employer will have to sign off or something -- but then i guess carpooling which is alread included is in the same boat.

i wish employers would recognize the money they could save for employee parking if more employees biked instead of drove to work... or better yet, bike-commuting employees could simply choose to get paid cash for their unused portion of the parking costs (of course they would have to be near full-time commuters to really qualify) -- i.e make car-driving employess pay for their parking benefits that the employer currently provides to all (maybe such an idea would actually have a chance in places like Eugene, Portland or Corvalis, or Vancouver BC)

It's a start but the plan needs more tax savings than a pretax deduction of only $65/month to entice people to commute on mass transit or bicycle. The $65 still comes out of your paycheck, you just don't have to pay taxes on it. Basically this would just be a humble bonus for all of us who already commute by mass transit or bicycle.

Originally posted by JDP
It's a start but the plan needs more tax savings than a pretax deduction of only $65/month to entice people to commute on mass transit or bicycle.
It's a start.

The actual savings can be about $25 per month, as shown below:

http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/ak/1999ib/ib99057.html

This is only an example.

I protest getting money for doing the right thing!!!Yeah, right GIMME!!! http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_boese_1/saeek.gif Every little bit helps!

Well, I don't need the subsidy, either. I figure I already saved about $11,400 when I spent $600 on my bike instead of $12,000 for a car. :lol:

But I'm glad to see cyclists might get the same deduction as other commuters. (And yes, I WILL take it! :beer: )

I downloaded, printed ad submitted the HR 1265 bill to my boss. I never heard anything from him, so later on I went by for a visit and asked him about it. "Oh yeah", he said as he fumbled for it in a stack of papers. He picked it up, squinted at it shaking his head with a grin and said, "I can't submit this to corporate!", and gave me a look like I was out of my f-ing mind.

Report it to the IRS.

Well if this becomes law, which I hope it does, then this suit that treated B&D like a dumbarse will HAVE to submit it to corporate. Where I live though something like this has almost no meaning........yet.

Originally posted by JDP
It's a start but the plan needs more tax savings than a pretax deduction of only $65/month to entice people to commute on mass transit or bicycle. The $65 still comes out of your paycheck, you just don't have to pay taxes on it. Basically this would just be a humble bonus for all of us who already commute by mass transit or bicycle.

I'll gladly take it! $65.00 off of my taxes is real money to me.

Actually it's $65 off your taxable income. So take your tax rate and multiply it by $65 to see how much you'll save on your taxes. Don't get me wrong, I won't turn it down. It just seems like a pathetic attempt to encourage alternative commuting means. Would you really change your commuting habits for a measly $2X.XX per year?

It would be simpler to just make companies charge a nominal fee for parking - something like $30/day. They could give out coupons for parking which you could redeem for cash at the end of the month if you hadnt used them all. It would avoid having to account for every day that people went to work - and it wouldn't matter if they car-pooled, biked, bussed or walked.

Originally posted by JDP
. Would you really change your commuting habits for a measly $2X.XX per year?

Probably not. However, we gotta start somewhere. Once the concept is adopted, it is always easy to modify the rules and/or change the formulas.

Originally posted by JDP
Would you really change your commuting habits for a measly $2X.XX per year?

It's more like about $300 per year.


Originally posted by LittleBigMan

The actual savings can be about $25 per month, as shown below:

http://www.blm.gov/nhp/efoia/ak/1999ib/ib99057.html


See: "How Employees Benefit From This Program."

:thumbup:

Woops. Meant to say per month. Not quite as measly.