Comment by Jasper
Wohoo! Finally tax relief that actually means something to me. Now let's see how fast my employer figures this out...
View ArticleComment by JJ
So now the most important question for the DC area, and WMATA, is whether OPM will authorize an increase in monthly transit benefits to a maximum of $240. All this fiscal cliff bill does is it allows...
View ArticleComment by Steve
This is great news, for say, someone who commutes from Vienna-Metro center. $5.30 at peak, $10.60 a day, assume a 250 day working year: $2650. If you can deduct $240 a month, that's $2880, more than...
View ArticleComment by Aaa
Too little, too late- After 1.5 years commuting 70+ minutes via metro/bus to work, and 7 years without a car in DC, I now have a car and have cut my commute to 25 minutes.
View ArticleComment by Matt Engel
Wouldn't a better way to encourage mass transit be to take the amount of lost tax receipts from this benefit and instead directly subsidize Metro? After all, there is no point in subsidizing riders to...
View ArticleComment by Kyle-W
@Matt Seems to be basically the same thing, except getting a subsidy out of the current congress is a non-starter. The idea is that more people with expensive metro rides will be using the system now...
View ArticleComment by Matt
Kyle- Assuming that a subsidy is the same as a tax deduction then i would rather give the money directly to Metro. If folks dont use the deduction, then metro still suffers.
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
@Matt Giving the subsidy directly to Metro would be better for Metro but giving Metro extra money isn't what the tax benefit is about. The benefit isn't really a "benefit" at all but rather an...
View ArticleComment by Gray's in the Fields
So there's not going to be any way for me to get this retroactively, is there? I've been getting a $199.50 MTA TLC pass every month for a while now, and just paying for the amount over $125 post-tax.
View ArticleComment by SJE
I'd rather see loss of both the parking and WMATA benefits. The WMATA benefit means that a large section of the riders are completely immune to price rises. As a result, WMATA has less incentive to...
View ArticleComment by Kyle-W
@Matt I am not disagreeing with you here, but to get approval for a new subsidy right now through the current congress is an absolute non-starter. With that said, I will take what I can get.The people...
View ArticleComment by SJE
Falls Church: the tax system does not work that way, nor should it. My employment related expenses include my clothes, haircuts, food, car etc. Should I get more if I buy nicer clothes? Why give people...
View ArticleComment by Rich
Interesting about Bronzeville. No mention that gentrification in that general area by African Americans began in the early 80s, a little north in the "Gap" neighborhood near IIT. In DC,...
View ArticleComment by Gray's in the Fields
@SJE: The WMATA benefit means that a large section of the riders are completely immune to price rises. That's not true at all. The benefit provided to many Federal employees has this effect, but the...
View ArticleComment by Jasper
@ SJE:I'd rather see loss of both the parking and WMATA benefits.You are correct that this is one of too many tax-exemptions in the tax code. I'd be happy to give it up, if other people (and remember:...
View ArticleComment by Wilsonia
@Falls Church My understanding of the tax code is that regular commuting expenses are generally not tax deductible as an "employment related expense." This is a special exception meant to incentivize...
View ArticleComment by charlie
"The WMATA benefit means that a large section of the riders are completely immune to price rises." I think WMATA has said in the past - and this is from memory -- that about 2/3 of rush hour riders...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
My employment related expenses include my clothes, haircuts, food, car etc. Should I get more if I buy nicer clothes? Why give people more to commute by car than, e.g.,walk?I'd agree with abolishing...
View ArticleComment by Falls Church
My understanding of the tax code is that regular commuting expenses are generally not tax deductible as an "employment related expense."That's true. Not because it makes sense from an accounting...
View ArticleComment by SJE
I said "a large section" of transit riders, which encompasses those who can do all their travel within the current benefit. Even if you pay half the cost, you are still less sensitive to price rises....
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