Tax bill has savings for students, commuters

Families with students attending college and commuters who use public transportation would continue to receive substantial tax savings under a tax measure passed Wednesday by the U.S. Senate, according to Sen. Charles Schumer.

The college tuition provision, which offers families making less than $160,000 a tax credit of $2,500 for each student, would remain in effect through 2012. The commuter measure, which provides up to $1,000 a year in savings, would be extended through 2011.

Both are part of a much larger tax compromise bill that would extend the so-called Bush-era tax cuts as well as unemployment insurance benefits. The bill passed the Senate, 81-19, with Schumer (D-N.Y.) voting in favor but Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) opposed.

Gillibrand said in a statement last week that although the deal "includes important measures I have fiercely advocated for, extending Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy will saddle our children with billions of dollars of debt."

Schumer called the bill's passage a victory for mass-transit riders and students facing increasingly high tuition.

While holding a degree is "more and more important," Schumer said, "the debt burden is a roadblock to far too many students and their families."

The credit amounts to about half the tuition at State University of New York schools, including Stony Brook University. But half of families nationally eligible for the credit did not take advantage of it last year, Schumer said. The senator said he would ask college presidents to notify their students of the benefit.

Those who filed for the tuition credit in New York State last year received an average of $1,863, Schumer spokesman Mike Morey said. The credit is offered on a sliding scale for families making between $160,000 and $180,000.

If the overall bill passes the House and is signed into law, commuters who participate in an employer benefit program such as TransitChek would be able to deduct up to $230 a month for 2011.

That would cover the lion's share of the cost of the typical public transportation bill for commutes on trains and buses. A monthly LIRR ticket that costs $233 would be almost fully covered, for example, while the $104 price of an unlimited monthly MetroCard would be fully covered, Schumer said.