WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — President Joe Biden released a revamped climate-change plan Thursday as part of his Build Back Better Act that includes restoring the originally proposed e-bike tax credit percentage while keeping the bicycle commuter benefit unchanged.
The tax credit for the purchase of an e-bike originally was proposed at 30% when Congressmen Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) created the E-BIKE Act. However, in September, the House Ways and Means Committee reduced the credit in half.
As part of the revamped bill announced Thursday, it's back to 30% but over five years — not 10 — with the same means-testing price caps previously. The Build Back Better Act — formerly the GREEN Act — proposes $7.4 billion for e-bike tax credits. It also would establish an $81 a month pre-tax benefit for biking to work that could be used with parking and transit and bike share, micromobility and e-bike costs.
The tax credit can be applied to the purchase of a new e-bike (the first $5,000) up to $750 benefit value. It allows taxpayers to claim credit for one e-bike per taxable year — two for joint filers — beginning in 2022. The credit would phase out starting at $75,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($112,500 for heads of household and $150,000 for married filing jointly) at a rate of $200 per $1,000 of additional income.
"We're pleased to see the E-BIKE Act and the Bicycle Commuter Act advance past another legislative hurdle," said Noa Banayan, PeopleForBikes' director of federal affairs. "As the Biden Administration aims to reduce emissions and transform transportation trends in the United States with the Build Back Better Act, investments that make it easier to purchase and ride bicycles and e-bikes are critical. Paired with the separate infrastructure package, Congress should approve real commitments to expanding access to safe places to ride a bike and make it easier for Americans to choose active, emissionless transportation."
Biden, who has struggled trying to get his legislation passed in the House, met with House Democrats for about an hour Thursday.
