Workers would be able to pay their subway fares with pretax money under a proposed bill announced Sunday.
City Councilman Daniel Garodnick (D-Manhattan) will introduce legislation requiring all businesses with 20 or more workers to allow employees to set aside pretax money for transit costs, under a federal program that some employers participate in voluntarily.
“Many of us feel like the MTA treats us like a piggy bank. Helping New Yorkers take advantage of this tax benefit is an important way we can put a little more cash in their pockets,” Garodnick said.
The benefit could save the average New Yorker who buys a monthly MetroCard $443 a year, and the bill will extend it to 605,000 people who don’t currently have it, backers say.
Federal law allows employees to put aside up to $130 a month before taxes to pay for train and bus fares. A monthly unlimited MetroCard currently costs $112.
