Posted on 09/24/2026 10:36:38 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Death, taxes and tolls may be inevitable in life, but a bill proposed by two members of Congress from New Jersey and one from New York would allow commuters to deduct tolls from their federal income tax.
Yes, New York City’s controversial congestion pricing tolls would be included, in addition to transit fares.
The Lowering Commuting Costs Act would create a federal income tax deduction totaling more than $4,080 a year or $340 a month, for personal commuting expenses, including the cost of gas, public transit and tolls.
It was introduced Tuesday by U.S. Reps Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., Tom Kean Jr., R-7th Dist, and New York’s Laura Gillen, D-4th Dist. If approved and signed by Trump, the deduction would apply to commuting expenses incurred after Dec. 31.
“There is no requirement to be a regular commuter or to meet a minimum number of trips per month,” said Allison Leonard, a Kean spokesperson. “Any individual may deduct commuting expenses within the parameters established in the legislation.”
There is no provision requiring a specific number of trips or a threshold to qualify.
Gas is expensive, tolls are expensive, and for a lot of families, those costs add up to thousands of dollars a year,” Van Drew said in a statement. “If businesses can deduct the cost of doing business, working people should be able to deduct what it takes to get to and from their jobs.”
“The Lowering Commuting Costs Act would create a new deduction for taxpayers to save thousands of dollars of costs incurred when commuting, whether on train fare, on congestion pricing tolls, and more,” Kean said in a statement.
“Thousands of New Jerseyans who commute for work can tell you the considerable time and expense it takes just to get to work,” Leonard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
A new way to hide subsidies for blue states paid for by red staters?
Why do we always have to be forced to pay blue state taxes when we refuse to live in blue states?
I vote no, high tax states and looking to shift the cost to the rest of the states. You voted for high taxes now enjoy them.
Reduce the taxes on those things and the price goes down. No need to tax people up front and promise to give it back as a refund.
The federal government should not be automatically subsidizing local pork like this. Next thing will be bus, light-rail and train tickets.
Let the toll impacted states enact this if they want.
I would be in favor of removing most deductions and replacing them with a larger standard deduction.
Here’s an idea, stop building toll roads with state money/subsides. We already pay taxes to build infrastructure.
...which Trump has already done, so yeah: I neither want to pay for your blue-state toll roads, nor do I want to encourage those states to raise tolls to further grift off of non-toll states.
This could be an idea for Florida politicians ...
Give Florida residents a $5 free toll allowance each month.
Many of us use a toll road once in a blue moon and hate when we get a bill in the mail with a billing surcharge for the month.
Give every resident the first $5 toll each month free.
Many people don’t realize that due to Democrat corruption, many of the toll roads are privately owned.
Years ago, Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania tried to sell I-80 in Pennsylvania and turn it into a toll road.
The I-95 express lane in Virginia below Washington DC, as well as I-495 in Virginia up to the Maryland border are privately owned toll roads.
I-95 Express Lanes LLC is primarily owned by the Transurban Group (holding a 90% stake) and Fluor Enterprises (holding 10%). Transurban Group is a publicly traded company on the Australian Securities Exchange. Fluor Enterprises spent $3,665,433 in 2024 and $3,715,272 in 2023 on lobbying expenses.
Under a 73-year concession agreement, the private partners financed, built, and maintain the managed lanes in exchange for collecting toll revenue.
Same with the Toll Road to Dulles Airport.
Here in WA we need a write off for our crazy gas taxes.
Just kidding.
Same difference.
Disgusting.
I long ago came up with an idea for States without any toll roads.
Any vehicles entering a State w/o toll roads would be charged an automatic toll. Vehicles from other states without toll roads would not be charged.
So Illinois residents coming to Iowa would be charged a toll. Nebraskans coming to Iowa would not.
Tolls are a voluntary tax to the state. No way should the US government subsidize state revenue in this way.
Here are some bread and circuses for the stupid commie voters: Tax deductions for lottery ticket purchases (except lumped in with the others, not deductible until exceeding the Standard Deduction). How many lottery ticket buyers have that kind of money sitting around to risk or would blow it anyway actually expecting a tax deduction as a consolation prize? Win-win!
The internal revenue code is massive, with so many various deductions and exemptions. Every single one is in there, because at some point, past congresses and presidents decided each one was a good idea.
There are some that many of us benefit from, such as deductions on property taxes and mortgage interest. I make a number of charitable contributions during the year. So I get a tax benefit for those.
Are transit fares, particularly high in New York and New Jersey?
eliminate the income tax and the need for deductions goes away ... along with non-profits, submitting income tax returns, and numerous other drags on the economy.
when you get older, red flags pop up very quickly!! this paves the wave for the masses to except more toll roads... I may be dumb, but not stupid!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.