Tax Free Benefits at 30: Evolution of a Free Parking Offset

Résumé fourni par la source

Tax-free employee transit benefits emerged in the 1970s along with monthly pass plans and evolved over a 30-year period to be an important part of transit marketing, transit revenue, and traffic mitigation strategies. Transit benefit plans succeeded partly because they are an “offset” to employer-provided tax-free parking, an integral part of transit’s market context in theoretical and practical terms. First authorized in 1984 at a tax-free monthly maximum of $15, transit benefit legislation was expanded numerous times and now allows a monthly maximum of $230, equaling tax-free parking. Indicating the effectiveness of workplace market development, transit benefit impacts greatly exceed what comparable changes in transit fare levels suggest. A series of innovations for delivering transit benefits and unique public-private relationships provided ever-better ways to meet employer needs, and will continue to evolve as transit fare collection methods advance. This paper summarizes underlying concepts, history, impacts, and status of transit benefits, as they are used as a tax incentive strategy for involving employers in efforts to reduce traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy use, by promoting public transit use.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.