Federal tax code may favor driving over other transportation modes
There are common complaints that transit is subsidized and roads pay for themselves; however, this is found over and over again to be untrue. Taxes are due in less than a month, and the Tri-state took a peak at the available and recently-expired tax credits and deductions that are related to automobile and transit use in the federal tax code. They did so in order to see if the tax breaks being proposed had a bias towards automobile use over other transportation.
It is possible that the federal tax code provides benefits for automobile owners; however, it seems as they offer limited incentives to taxpayers that take transit or travel by bike. This article isn’t meant to be an expert analysis on taxes, as we aren’t tax advisers, but it may be an optional guide or simply seen as an educated opinion.
If you own or operate a vehicle, these are some of the benefits you may earn:
Tax payers who choose to donate their vehicles to charity can receive a tax deduction
Individuals who have experienced an automobile crash that aren’t fully reimbursed by the insurance of the other driver, as long as the crash wasn’t the individual’s fault, may be able to deduct the unreimbursed amount.
Automobile owners may also receive tax credits to purchase or lease fuel efficient vehicles or even fuel cell vehicles and hybrid vehicles. Additionally, individuals may take a tax credit for qualified fuel cell vehicles that were serviced in 2012.
Also, individuals that drive to work may be eligible to take up to $245/month in a pre-tax deduction in order to cover parking expenses.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Law Tags: federal income tax, federal tax, gasoline tax, income tax, sales tax, taxes
Federal taxes on airline tickets too high?
If you were to place airline tickets on a political scale, it would probably land near the bottom, simply because when you think about airline tickets you don’t think about controversy.
There are many supposedly controversial claims that have been made about plane tickets. For example, PolitiFact has stated that the federal government runs a background check on you whenever you buy an airline ticket. That’s more than likely false.
Gary Kelly, the chief executive officer of Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, has come up with a new claim for airplane tickets. Southwest airlines carry the most domestic passengers in the United States and a majority of the passengers at Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport.
Kelly made a bold statement in a column that he wrote on February 2013 in the in-flight magazine of Southwest and AirTran Airways. He said that federal taxes and fees turn out to be about 20% of a normal $300 round-trip domestic ticket. Kelly continues by saying that that’s higher than federal taxes on products like tobacco, alcohol and firearms.
Spring break is right around the corner, and alcohol, firearms and tobacco are always a factor, we shall see if Kelly’s claim is true or not.
Kelly’s claim is focused on federal taxes on airline tickets and other products. The source he used for the taxes on airline tickets is coming from Airlines for America, a trade group that advocates for the airline industry. Airlines for America announced in December of 2012 that they would put into effect a campaign to persuade lawmakers to reduce federal taxes on airlines.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax Tags: airline tax, federal tax, income tax, sales tax