Posted on 12/15/2017 10:43:20 PM PST by 11th_VA
Count commuters among the losers in the Republican tax bill that the House and Senate are expected to vote on next week.
The final bill agreed to by Republican negotiators and released late Friday eliminates the tax incentive for private employers that subsidize their employees' transit, parking and bicycle commuting expenses.
Currently, companies can provide parking or transit passes worth up to $255 a month to employees as a benefit to help pay for their commuting expenses, and then deduct the costs from their corporate taxes. That amount was set to increase to $260 a month on Jan. 1.
(snip)
"It's clearly a negative for commuters who are spending a lot of money on public transportation," said Rob Healy, vice president for governmental affairs at the American Public Transportation Association. The employer subsidies are generally more lucrative for commuters than the ability to use pre-tax income for transportation costs, he said.
"The concern is that if employers can't write it off, they won't offer it. And if they don't offer it, it's a loss to the employees," Healy said. "It could ultimately hurt the ridership."
Businesses that provide their employees with $20 per month to cover the expense of commuting by bicycle would also no longer be able to write off the benefit under the tax bill. Without that incentive, the relatively few employers offering the benefit may discontinue it, said Ken McLeod, policy director for the League of American Bicyclists.
Getting rid of the bicycle benefit, which was adopted in 2009, would save the government a relatively low $5 million a year, McLeod said. By comparison, the parking benefit costs the government about $7.3 billion a year in foregone taxes, according to a report by TransitCenter, a transit advocacy group.
(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
If we’re ever going to simplify our tax code, we need to start by simplifying our tax code.
I know, it’s complicated.
Yep, people can cherry pick all night long, and profess shock about how they took away this benefit or that benefit. But doing so misses the big picture.
Women and minorities hardest hit, of course.
So, as new retirees on non-waged income, we're supposed to accept a 10% spike in the amount of federal taxes we will owe in 2018?
Step by step, subsidy by subsidy, mandate by mandate, regulation by regulation..Trump is truly making America great again!
let me get this straight....corporations are getting a huge tax decrease and now their complaining that they need more for there liddle bitty workers?
agree...not impressed....if we had several kids at home we’d be better off but at age 65 and 64, all of our deductions just bite the dust...
If someone wants to be green let them do it entirely on their own dime.
I had no idea that taxpayers who have to maintain their own transportation were subsidizing those who didn’t. If the increase in the personal deduction covers their loss, they have nothing to complain about. If it doesn’t, welcome to the reality of personal responsibility.
Big cities might have to spend some money on their infrastructure? The horror!
Here’s a brilliant idea. Pay them more.
Your income in retirement should be several brackets lower than when you worked. If you go into retirement debt-free owning your own home, which is how you planned it, you may find income tax to be a lot less than property taxes.
They should have gotten rid of the parking subsidy, too.
Pass-through small businesses pay a higher rate than corps. If any of them offered such benefits, they’re gone.
Indeed, they should have kept the personal exemptions in addition to the standard deductions. Did they have higher exemptions for 65 and over or blind, like they do for Maryland?
(Yeah, it’s been nearly a year since I looked at a 1040.)
If they wont get rid of the small things they wont get rid of the big things.
If I was still working in corporate management I’d be thrilled at this. The time and cost of administering these stupid benefits used to drive me nuts.
The corporate rate will be lowered and aptly covers it. This just gets rid of one of those stupid deductions that got in the tax code.
It's tit for tat.
While visiting in NY I drove down a single lane street just barely enough room for 1 car with a bicycle lane included, a 2 lane boulevard where the parked cars were moved to the left lane so that the parking lane could be used for bicycles while the far right lane is used for traffic. This is where we are with this ridiculous nonsense. To register your car in NYS is enormous not mention towing, ticketing, insurance and inspections while the cyclists enjoy no rules of the road no insurance no tickets or towing and no registration, licensing or insurance! A LIBERAL PROGRESSIVE UTOPIA!
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