"Hot days in January" will probably come sooner than we'd like, but I generally agree with George's points.
Unless my employer is willing to pay for a new commuter bike (fat chance of that...) my out-of-pocket expenses for bike commuting are pretty trivial, and any tax break would be insignificant. A change in the tax code would have symbolic value, but not much practical effect. What we do need from employers are facilities and institutional support: workplaces in bike-friendly locations, secure bike storage, showers, bicycling classes as part of wellness programs, etc. If we would change Federal law and State law to encourage effective support of bike commuting, we'd be getting somewhere. George Perkins wrote: > The following (forwarded below) is making its rounds and is supported by > the League of American > Wheelman (LAW). Actual text of bill is located at the Library of > Congress, here (include the > trailing ":"). > > http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h1498: > > > IMHO this update to the IRS code will have a net effect of nil. It does > speak to overall fairness > and perhaps bicycles should have been included in the original tax > loophole. A MUCH better > solution would be to remove any deductions allowed for all forms of > business-sponsored > transportation allowances since (I'm guessing) they are disproportionately > harmful because most go > to motorvehicle subsidies. Does anyone know if this is how this pans out? > > My employer (Meriter), for example, allows a ~$20/month bus subsidy and a > guaranteed taxi ride > (free) home for emergencies. I don't know if it gets to write off that > $240 and taxi fare against > Federal taxes. Meanwhile people who drive cars and park at Meriter pay > $15/month for the > privilege (not sure what it costs Meriter to maintain and amortize the > parking ramps, much more > than $180/year per parking spot, I'm sure). I don't know the tax law, so > I don't know if Meriter > can write off any of the net parking service as a "business expense" or if > it applies to this > particular bit of IRS code... Any tax experts out there? > > Does anyone believe their employers are going to jump at giving them an > allowance for bicycling to > work? It will be a very hot day in January (I fear) before that happens. > > Should I sign this petition? Do I trust LAW has done its homework on the > bill and we're really > fighting the right side of this fight? > > >> >> The Bicycle Commuter Act, S.858 introduced on Wednesday, March 13, would >> extend the transportation fringe benefit currently available to car >> drivers and >> transit users to bicyclists. By providing a small incentive to people to >> travel to and from work by bicycle the legislation will play an >> important role in >> tackling climate change, physical inactivity, and traffic congestion. >> >> >> The Bicycle Commuter Act would simply extend the definition of >> "transportation" in Section 132 (f) of the 1986 IRS code to include >> "bicycles." >> >> Please write your Representatives on this. >> >> Here is one place that you can use to automatically send a letter to >> your >> representatives in DC. >> >> _http://capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=9520176_ >> (http://capwiz.com/lab/issues/alert/?alertid=9520176) >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> Garett Kipp >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies > > _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
