Closed petition Tax relief on commuter public transport costs

Closed on 12 December 2013

I call upon the Treasury to review the possibility to grant income tax relief for commuters that use public transport to travel to and from their place of work.

I believe this would have a two-fold effect:

Firstly, it would encourage more people to use public transport, as there would be a clear benefit to use the train as opposed to the car, for instance. This would reduce the amount of un-neccessary traffic in town centres, and reduce emission levels in these areas.

Secondly, it would give the working classes more money in their pockets; in times that are hard this will allow them to spend more at the tills, thus invigorating the economy. The extra spend at the tills will compensate for the loss of income tax in the outset.

The mechanism for calculation of tax relief can be worked through the standard self assessment forms, or for PAYE earners it can be added back to their tax code via a declaration.