$20 / month for bike commuting
Thread started by
0gravity at 10.9.08 - 9:54 am
Bailout a Boon for Bike Commuters
San Francisco Chronicle
The $700 billion bailout bill intended to stop the tailspin of the nation's financial sector does something else: It includes federal tax benefits for people who commute by bike. Starting in January, bicycle commuters will be eligible for a $20-a-month, tax-free reimbursement from their employers for bicycle-related expenses. Employers will be able to deduct the expense from their federal taxes.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/08/BA1D13DRO7.DTL
(sorry in advance if this is a re-post)
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out of 700 billion we get 20 bucks. what a fucking joke.
onelessfixie10.9.08 - 2:39 pm
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i dunno...that seems like a fuck ass amount to give...dosen't y'alls skinny tubes cost about 20 bucks each? Plus patch kits and what not...
MOM_RIDAZ42010.9.08 - 2:47 pm
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of course i get it lucky my work give me a travel allowance
MOM_RIDAZ42010.9.08 - 2:49 pm
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If you drive a car during the course of your employmen, IRS allows you to deduct 58.5 cents a mile.
If you drive 100 miles a day you get to deduct $58.50 a day from your taxable earnings.
That's for business related travel ie deliveries, meeting with clients etc NOT commuting.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=184163,00.html
If you have 10,000 business miles a year you get to deduct $5,850
If you have 20,000 business miles a year you get to deduct $11,700
If you commute with a bike you get to deduct $240
Thanx for the subsidy.
marino10.9.08 - 2:51 pm
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Some of those comments are dripping in entitlement. No recognition whatsoever that an incentive, albeit a small one, was given for bike commuting. No...better to immediately whine that it's not enough money. Typical.
0gravity10.9.08 - 3:03 pm
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I regret that it had to be attached to the epic such bail out, but I am glad to see this. It's only fair considering other commuter transit alternatives like Metro and bus users and even people who just carpool get similar incentives.
GarySe7en10.9.08 - 3:06 pm
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Hey, it's $240 per year, which is a new bikesdirect fixie every 18 months, or a new snooty bike every 20 years, so it could be worse.
JB10.9.08 - 3:10 pm
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I'm just saying that compared to what corporate CEOs are making off this bailout...corporate CEOs who are already rich and need no more money...$20 seems like a slap in the face. Its cool that its in there, but it's still bullshit.
A sense of entitlement is running to the government and telling it to give you 700 billion dollars with no questions asked, no strings attached.
onelessfixie10.9.08 - 3:33 pm
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0gravity wrote:
Some of those comments are dripping in entitlement. No recognition whatsoever that an incentive, albeit a small one, was given for bike commuting. No...better to immediately whine that it's not enough money. Typical.
Relax, Ann Coulter. They're just pointing out the disparity. Is that off-limits for discussion for some reason?
PC10.9.08 - 3:55 pm
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"They're just pointing out the disparity. Is that off-limits for discussion for some reason?"
No, but it's still whiny and an irrelevant comparison. Some people can never be content or thankful.
0gravity10.9.08 - 4:04 pm
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Irrelevant comparison? How do you figure?
Do you figure?
PC10.9.08 - 4:07 pm
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I don't have time for a big debate on this. Basically, it's irrelevant to compare the two because the two serve totally different purposes. The bail-out bill (in all its monstrosity) is intended to rescue our entire economy. Whether that happens in time or not is fundamentally different from the goal of incentivizing bike commuting. It's apples and oranges. No, it's apples and the entire farmer's market.
0gravity10.9.08 - 4:41 pm
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And yet they're on the same bill. Apples and oranges, but they're in the same bag, which makes their concurrent discussion anything but "irrelevant." And don't forget, the bailout and the "incentivizing" are being
contrasted, not
compared, by the posters in the thread. That's precisely what you would do with...apples and oranges.
In summary, don't be fucking ridiculous. When two instrumentalities are included in the same legislative package, people will probably talk about them both at the same time. And when there is a striking disparity in the amounts of money involved, somebody is bound to point this out. If I reward somebody else's malfeasance with a fortune and reward your good behavior with a pittance, you don't have to have a sense of "entitlement" to notice it, and if you say something about it, it's hardly "whining."
PC10.9.08 - 4:53 pm
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If you drive a car during the course of your employmen, IRS allows you to deduct 58.5 cents a mile.
If you have 10,000 business miles a year you get to deduct $5,850
If you have 20,000 business miles a year you get to deduct $11,700
If you commute with a bike you get to deduct $240
Thanx for the subsidy
marino,
drivers do not get money for commuting. cyclists do.
If you use a bicycle for business purposes you can deduct those expenses the same exact way you would deduct car expenses. Although, of course the expenses would be much much lower. But eg a messenger could deduct the costs of tubes, tires, depreciation etc. well assuming messengers actually made any money in the first place.
Hell, if you use a hot air balloon for business (just not commuting) you could deduct those expenses.
So cyclists are getting more than drivers, because they are being given a subsidy purely for commuting.
stevestevesteve10.9.08 - 4:55 pm
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Hey PC, what was that again?....
Being annoyed just bolsters the self-righteousness upon which I thrive.
0gravity10.9.08 - 5:00 pm
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Your copy-and-paste-fu is indeed awesome.
PC10.9.08 - 5:03 pm
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I listened to that on-bike interview when it was on-air. Gave me lots of respect for some politician that I had never heard of. I wish he was more popular- like that Obama clown.
It's good that something is being given, the tax rebates for hybrids helped them sell. Even though a Prius still isn't worth it. But maybe it will be just enough of a small incentive to get more people to commute by bike. Which is good!
For the record- I drive a car to work. Loud and fast and burning lots of gas!
Ratpick10.10.08 - 4:00 pm
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the best part is when they start riding the wrong way down a one-way street..
stevestevesteve10.10.08 - 5:06 pm
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