Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

If you get to work by transit or bike, you're saving a lot of money on gas, but come tax season, Uncle Sam probably won't be as generous to you as he'll be to car commuters.

false

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign took a look recently at the way tax benefits apply to different modes of transportation. Renata Silberblatt writes:

We did find that the federal tax code provides benefits to vehicle owners but offers limited incentives for taxpayers to take transit or bike.

Here are the tax benefits they found for each category:

For Drivers:

    • Tax deduction for donating vehicles to charity
    • People involved in crashes where they were not found to be at fault can deduct unreimbursed expenses
    • Tax credits for fuel efficient vehicles (recently expired)
    • Up to $245 per month in tax-deductible parking expenses

For Transit Riders/Vanpoolers:

    • Up to $245 per month in tax-deductible commuting expenses (valid only through the end of 2013)
    • Up to $245 per month in tax-deductible parking expenses

For Bike Commuters:

    • Bike commuters can be reimbursed $20 per month for expenses related to commuting (cannot be used with any other commuting benefit).

Tri-State concludes that U.S. tax code does seem to favor driving, when common sense would dictate the opposite:

Given the many benefits of vanpooling, riding transit or biking — to the environment, to drivers on the road, to the roads themselves, and, if one is biking, to one’s personal health and to healthcare costs for the community as a whole — it’s a wonder that our taxes don’t encourage these behaviors more.

For example, a commuter cannot take the bicycling reimbursement and commuter tax credit together. This doesn’t seem fair, given that some people bike to a transit station, or some may bike a few days a week and take transit the other days.

As Congress begins discussions about reforming the tax code, the opportunity should be used to either create greater parity in the tax code for non-drivers or greater incentives to make smarter and more sustainable transportation choices.

Elsewhere on the Network today: The Get Around Blog laments that deaths caused by auto collisions don't get as much attention in the press as gun deaths. World Streets begins imagining what a transportation system designed around equity would look like. And Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space turns a critical eye on recent media reports about red light cameras in Washington, D.C.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Transform and Roll Out

Will autonomous vehicles really make us safer? Maybe in the long run, but maybe not in the short run.

May 23, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: When You Don’t Really Need an Ambulance

Let's talk about the realities of non-emergency medical transportation, long a quiet backwater of urban transport planning.

May 22, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Open 24 Hours

Between an egg surcharge and now EV chargers, late-night diner chain Waffle House looks ready to thrown down with the Trump administration.

May 22, 2025

How A Single Transportation Emergency Can Keep Parents From Achieving Their College Dreams

Abigail Seldin of Scholarship America about the 3.8 million U.S. students who are earning degrees while raising families.

May 22, 2025

Republican Senators Press Attack on CA’s Clean Air Laws

Anyone hoping that Congressional Republican leaders would follow generations of precedent regarding the role of the non-partisan Senate Parliamentarian or the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had a very bad day yesterday.

May 21, 2025

What It’s Like to Grow Up Car-Free In Chicago

"There's a good mix of time where you don't want your parents to drop you off, but you have to, because you don't have your own car," Quetzal said. "I never had that."

May 21, 2025
See all posts