Tax Break for Employers of Bike Commuters
Oct 09, 2008 · 11:40 AM · permalink
The $700 bazillion Wall Street bailout package has just one tiny thing that any cyclist should be pleased about. There is a $20/month tax break for employers for each bike commuter employee as an incentive for companies to reduce petrol consumption and infrastructure demands.
The money is for the employer to reimburse employees “for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.”
To many people, this tax cut is probably like a delectable chocolate left on a pillow while staying at the Bates Motel… a nice gesture in an otherwise horrific nightmare. Within Senate and House of Representatives, many supporters of this tax break actually voted against the bill while otherwise being favorable to the cyclists’ tax break riding the bill. In the past, the tax break had been riding bills for environmental, transportation, or energy issues that failed.
So my employer, the big downtown law firm (Halliburton’s law firm in fact), is going to get a $240 tax break because I ride my bike in the darkness and rain and cold all winter?
That’s absolutely fantastic!
I wonder what the partners will spend their extra money on.
make sure that you drag your filthy bike through all the office corridors. when someone takes issue, tell them your Uncle Sam paid for your parking privileges.
meanwhile at the company lunch, the partners will be ordering an extra serving of their favorite dish: babies!
luckily I like chocolate
am I totally spaced out? Or did this posting not originally contain the paragraph about “The money is for the employer to reimburse employees …” because that seems new. (a coworker sent me a link to a Times or P-I story about this which prompted me to come back and see if there were other comments here…)
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