I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4964 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide individuals a 

deduction for commuting expenses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2010 

Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

individuals a deduction for commuting expenses. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Commuter Aid and 

5 Relief for Suburbs Act of 2010’’ or as the ‘‘CARS Act 

6 of 2010’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN COMMUTING EXPENSES 

8 OF INDIVIDUALS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap10 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 


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1 additional itemized deductions) is amended by redesig2 nating section 224 as section 225 and by inserting after 

3 section 223 the following new section: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 224. CERTAIN COMMUTING EXPENSES. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

6 there shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to 

7 the applicable percentage of the amount paid or incurred 

8 by the taxpayer during the taxable year for qualified com9 muting expenses of the taxpayer, his spouse, and depend10 ents. 

11 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes of 

12 this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable per14 centage’ means, with respect to the expenses of any 

15 individual in connection with a round-trip commute 

16 of a certain number of miles, the percentage deter17 mined in accordance with the following table: 

‘‘In the case of a The applicable 

round-trip commute of: percentage is: 

Less than 10 miles ............................................................ 10 percent

At least 10 miles, but not greater than 15 miles ............. 30 percent

At least 15 miles, but not greater than 25 miles ............. 50 percent

At least 25 miles ............................................................... 75 percent. 

18 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR HIGH GAS MILEAGE

19 VEHICLES AND CARPOOLERS.—Notwithstanding 

20 paragraph (1), the applicable percentage shall be 

21 100 percent with respect to any portion of a round22 trip commute which is made— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in a motor vehicle which has a gaso2 line equivalent fuel efficiency of more than 40 

3 miles per gallon, 

4 ‘‘(B) in a motor vehicle while carrying car5 pooling passengers, or 

6 ‘‘(C) on public transporation (including 

7 any parking fees in connection with using such 

8 public transportation). 

9 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO COMMUTING.—For 

10 purposes of this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED COMMUTING EXPENSES.—The 

12 term ‘qualified commuting expenses’ means reason13 able expenses paid or incurred for transportation 

14 (including public transportation and parking fees in 

15 connection with using any such public transpor16 tation) in connection with travel between an individ17 ual’s residence and place of employment. 

18 ‘‘(2) ROUND-TRIP COMMUTE.—The term 

19 ‘round-trip commute’ means the reasonable driving 

20 distance from an individual’s residence to such indi21 vidual’s place of employment and back to such resi22 dence.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 

25 is amended by redesignating the item relating to section 


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1 224 as an item relating to section 225 and inserting before 

2 such item the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 224. Certain commuting expenses.’’. 

3 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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