As Congress concluded work in 2017, the White House and Congressional Republicans scored a long sought-after win in the form of tax reform. Incorrectly, numerous media reports indicated that commuters will lose transit, parking, and biking benefits. The tax reform legislation passed into law preserves section 132(f) of tax law, which is the section of law that provides commuters with a transportation benefit.
The confusion stems from one of the changes made by the legislation regarding treatment of funds expended by employers. The new law eliminates the ability of employers to write off expenses tied to individuals' commutes. While not our preferred outcome, ACT does not believe that this will have a major impact on transit benefit programs being offered by employers across the country.
The tax reform package does eliminate the bicycle benefit. It also permits employers to write off subsidized bike programs; however, individuals will have to report that benefit as taxable.
For more information on the impact of tax reform on the transit benefit, click here