Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Tax Policy

Uncle Sam Wants You to Drive: 5 Tax Breaks for Cars in the U.S. Tax Code

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 15, 2014 | 55 Comments

It’s April 15. If you bought an electric car in 2013, you can claim a tax break today. If you bought a plug-in hybrid, you can get a tax break today. But if you don’t own a car and walk to work instead? Sorry, Charlie. There’s a whole array of goodies in the U.S. tax […]

Transit Benefit Reappears on the Congressional Agenda

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 1, 2014 | No Comments

The tax benefit for transit riders has zigzagged dizzily from parity with the car parking subsidy to second-class status. Currently, while drivers can pay for up to $250 in parking costs per month with pretax income, transit riders can’t claim more than $130. Could it zigzag back up? Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who took over […]

Might Atlanta Tax Parking to Fund Transit?

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 12, 2013 | No Comments

Last summer, voters from a 10-county region in and around Atlanta shot down a large package of transportation projects, including some major urban transit projects. But almost immediately after, plucky Atlanta leaders were searching for other ways to move the work forward. The city of Atlanta hasn’t set aside ambitions for things like the Beltline, an innovative […]

Bi-Partisan Lawmakers Push Permanent Tax Equality for Transit Commuters

By Tanya Snyder | Jun 7, 2013 | 8 Comments

Right now, transit riders get the same commuter tax benefits as drivers: $245 a month in pre-tax income to spend to get to work. But next year, straphangers might go back to second-class status, getting just $125 for their ride. Four members of Congress, two Democrats and two Republicans, have stepped up to make sure […]

If You Pay Sales Tax at Amazon.com, Your Transit System Could Improve

By Tanya Snyder | May 9, 2013 | 25 Comments

A bill moving through Congress could help struggling transit systems around the country. The Senate approved the Marketplace Fairness Act on Monday, a bill that would impose sales taxes on most items sold online to residents of the 45 states (and the District of Columbia) where stores charge sales tax. PubliCola at SeattleMet highlighted the benefit […]

A Golden Opportunity for Congress to Avoid the Transportation “Fiscal Cliff”

By Tanya Snyder | May 1, 2013 | No Comments

MAP-21 expires in a year and five months. When it does, if lawmakers haven’t already found a solution to the “transportation fiscal cliff,” they’ll have to do one of three things, according to a report issued last week by the Congressional Budget Office [PDF]: Transfer $14 billion more in general funds Raise the gas tax […]

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