If walking were a tax deduction or credit

"Funktheduck" (funktheduck) 03/01/2016 at 12:38 • Filed to: None

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We all know that America has an obesity problem. We know that there are many facets to the issue: diet, exercise, genetics, and various tax breaks for unhealthy processed foods are just a few. Here’s my, half serious, proposal to help address one small facet.

Most people spend a lot of time sitting. We sit in our car, at work, and at home. Some, lucky few have standing or treadmill desks that help keep them active through the day, but most people sit. This sedentary lifestyle is unnatural and we need to move more. Sadly, most of us need motivation and that’s where my half thought out plan comes into action: tax deductions or credits for the active. And we all know, as Americans, we love to be rewarded for things we already do or should do

What’s a deduction or credit?

For those who don’t know the distinction between a deduction or a credit I will give you the quick non legalese definitions. A credit reduces the amount of taxes owed and is usually like a reward. Think of the hybrid/electric car credit. A deduction reduces the amount of taxable income and is usually based on a cost. The most common deduction you’ll hear about is a mileage deduction when using your vehicle for work. This particular deduction will be the one I use for my proposal. (I’m sure someone with accounting knowledge will correct me or go into greater detail. There’s always Google)

The brass tax of it all

The 2016 mileage rate is $0.54/mile. The rate changes year to year but is intended to cover things like wear and tear and fuel. This rate is excessive for walking but I’m gonna use it to illustrate how big of an effect this can have. I will be using my Fitbit data from February 2016 for my math.

In February I walked 195.71 miles. Like taxes, we’ll round to the nearest whole number making it 196 miles walked/run. For simplicity, let’s assume I walk that amount exactly every month for all of 2016 bringing my total mileage to 2,352 miles. At a rate of $0.54/mile that makes a deduction/credit of $1,270. I don’t know about you, but nearly $1,3000 is nothing to sneeze at.

How to track this

There are a ton of personal fitness trackers on the market that can be had for a good price. My brand of choice is Fitbit. I know iPhones have the ability to track distance travelled as well. I’m not sure about android phones.

Glaring problem

Fraud. Any time money is involved, there will be people who will cheat the system. That’s where audits come in. Just like with any other credit or deduction, you have to prove your mileage. That’s why things like Fitbits or the iPhone tracking are so great. I’m sure every company would get on board quickly with making some sort of yearly form. No one would want to be the company that doesn’t help its customers get money.

Don't ban cars. Encourage healthy choices. Give people freedom of choice instead of a dictatorship.

For Sweden > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:42

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Obesity is a problem throughout the industralized world, brah

HammerheadFistpunch > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:43

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I like it.

crowmolly > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:46

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FWIW many health insurance plans will pay for some or all of your gym membership. As long as you can document your visits.

Funktheduck > For Sweden 03/01/2016 at 12:47

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I know. I thought about mentioning that but I'm only familiar with US tax code (barely at that. Yay for CPAs). I also know if I wasn't general enough, someone would come along and correct me with a graph of some countries that are rich and healthy, therefore making me wrong about anything ever. Because, ya know, the Internet.

Funktheduck > HammerheadFistpunch 03/01/2016 at 12:50

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Thanks. I started thinking about it last week but wanted a full month of data first. Fitbit did an update made my charge HR not sync for a while so I only have half of January.

BigBlock440 > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:52

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The only thing I don’t like about it is that it adds to the already convoluted tax code. But since we’re there anyway, the only thing I can think about hindering it’s effectiveness is that the standard deduction is already higher than most people would get from walking, so they’d stop trying. That’d only leave you where we’re at now, so it’s not too bad of an idea actually.

HammerheadFistpunch > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:52

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Norway? I think my wife and I were the fattest people we saw when we were there...and maybe the poorest.

shop-teacher > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:53

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I like this idea a lot, but the fraud problem is not solved by the trackers. Those are too easy to fool. Go put a fit-bit in a paint shaker for instance, or put in on a three year old who runs around like a chicken with their head cut off.

Shame, because I really really like the idea!

Stapleface > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:53

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Nice idea. But as you said, I'm sure people would figure out how to gain the system in about 30 seconds. We shouldn't need any incentive to get up and get moving, but most people are lazy (myself included). Give them a reason to, and they should see the benefits.

450X_FTW > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:54

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Public transportation, cannot stress it enough. Being from Michigan where everyone* has a car, and there is very little to no public transportation I was in pure shock when I went to Germany for work at their massively successful public trains. And it is because of this, that it is the ONLY time I have ever traveled for work that I actually lost weight. That’s because you have to walk from your hotel to the train, then from the train to your office. So everyday I was walking for about 45 minutes to 1 hour while carrying my laptop bag, versus my normal Michigan routine of sitting in my car for 30 minutes and parking 50 feet from the front door

jariten1781 > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:55

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Discriminatory against the handicapped, elderly, and otherwise infirm...wouldn’t get anywhere.

Also, * brass tacks (which hilariously no one knows the origin of)

Quadradeuce > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:56

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My running theory is that a big part of our problem is snacking. We have gotten away from 3 squares a day and now we graze all day.

My doctor said I needed to lose weight, so I decided to listen to him (I know, crazy idea). First thing I did was stop snacking. I got all of my calories from 3 meals. I lost about 20 lbs just from that change.

Next, I bought a Fitbit to track my walking and keep a closer eye on my diet using the meal tracker. Lost another 20lbs by walking 10k steps a day (even if it meant walking around my warehouse in circles) and keeping my calories about 300 under what I burn each day.

What kills me the most is that we are teaching these habits to our kids. EVERYONE makes their kids snack. It’s bullshit and we are setting them up for weight struggles. I hate babysitting other people’s kids because they graze all day then putz around with meals. I hate it. My kids eat 3 meals a day, and people are amazed at how great they eat. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

Quadradeuce > Stapleface 03/01/2016 at 12:58

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I think you tie the incentive to weight loss, which would have to be monitored and certified by your primary physician to get the credit. Way less fraud that way.

-this space for rent- > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 12:59

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Some health plans give you discounts for maintaining X steps per day/week on your fitbit.

Tekamul > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 13:04

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1) Obesity is fought in the kitchen far more effectively than the gym. Why spend resources on a small factor when large factors haven’t been addressed?

2) Walking is a very inefficient method of exercise. You would/should count multiple methods, like biking, swimming, hot yoga, etc.

3) Abuse is far to easy. Hoverboards, bikes, stop and go traffic. Maybe I’ll buy a fit bit and strap it to a feral dog for free money.

I’m not trying to crap all over your idea. The initial idea is good, but implementation is frought with issues.

Funktheduck > crowmolly 03/01/2016 at 13:13

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Yeah. The difference is people have to go out of their way for the gym. Many people pay for memberships that they don't even use. This is something people already do, but encourages more and is possibly a gateway to gym usage.

BigBlock440 > Quadradeuce 03/01/2016 at 13:17

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Grazing, I like that. It’s accurate.

Nibby > For Sweden 03/01/2016 at 13:19

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exhibit A

Funktheduck > Tekamul 03/01/2016 at 13:26

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3. Most definitely. Fraud is super easy. That’s why you have to have proof. My charge hr logs heart rate, steps taken, and stairs climbed. That info is then converted into calories burned and mileage. There's a joke on the Big Bang theory about Howard running a hundred miles in a few minutes or something. It's a masturbation joke but proves your point but also shows how someone could be busted.

1. Completely agree but a huge part of that comes from subsidizing bad for you food instead of good food. Those lobbies are too strong to fight

2. I wanted to include that but it’s much harder to prove. I ride a bike about 4.5 miles Sunday. The only proof I have is I logged the activity on my Fitbit. You can see my increased heart rate but that’s all as far as proof.

Funktheduck > Stapleface 03/01/2016 at 13:33

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Yeah. It depends on the device too. Some are more accurate. It would be easy to bust in a lot of cases. For example, if someone claimed my kind of mileage but got winded walking from their car to the auditor’s desk, it's a good sign they're lying.

Funktheduck > Quadradeuce 03/01/2016 at 13:36

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If you went on weight loss alone, the biggest factor is diet. My proposal is to encourage physical activity. Weight loss alone doesn't mean you're healthy either and you get limited at a certain point. This is constant, year after year.

Funktheduck > Quadradeuce 03/01/2016 at 13:40

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Congrats on the weight loss. Diet is probably the biggest factor. When we graze, we eat more calories typically. There are so many factors that should be addressed, I could only focus on one.

Quadradeuce > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 13:44

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You can’t lose weight without diet, period. I did add exersize to my routine, but that is only icing on the cake. It meant I burned an extra 200-300 calories a day...not enough to lose weight on it’s own but it sure helps.

Funktheduck > 450X_FTW 03/01/2016 at 13:44

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Public transportation is great for some but it’s something that America can’t seem to get right.

There are people like myself that can't use public transportation for work. I have to drive if I want to stay profitable.

Funktheduck > shop-teacher 03/01/2016 at 13:47

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The paint can shaker would likely break any tracker but I know what you mean. But, it’s also easy to bust. “How did you run 300 miles in 2 minutes?”

I think you'd have to use a more expensive tracker that does heart rate as well like my charge hr. Still working out the details in my head.

For Sweden > HammerheadFistpunch 03/01/2016 at 13:52

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Norway_debt.png

HammerheadFistpunch > For Sweden 03/01/2016 at 13:54

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interdasting. I guess that’s we we appeared so poor.

Funktheduck > jariten1781 03/01/2016 at 13:55

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All tax breaks are discriminatory.

I was trying to be punny. Now I see how that could easily be missed

For Sweden > HammerheadFistpunch 03/01/2016 at 13:55

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It all depends on who takes on debt to pay for society. In the USA, the government takes on most of that debt. In Norway, it’s the households.

Funktheduck > BigBlock440 03/01/2016 at 14:03

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It is convoluted but that's because there's so many little breaks for each and every special interest group. This at least could apply to a large number of people.

Funktheduck > -this space for rent- 03/01/2016 at 14:03

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I think mine might. Need to check on that

jariten1781 > Funktheduck 03/01/2016 at 14:48

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In the common language sense, sure; in the 'protected class' sense...not so much.

Nibby > HammerheadFistpunch 03/01/2016 at 14:50

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but you’re not even fat

Funktheduck > jariten1781 03/01/2016 at 15:09

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The only “protected class” in America is made up with people with money and power.

Most tax breaks benefit those people.

This is the closest to a universal tax break you can get. Just because a small subset of people can’t benefit does not mean it’s not beneficial or a bad idea. It encourages healthy behavior that could reduce health care related costs.

We have a massive and extremely complex full of loop holes and benefits for a very small subset of the population for each one. To say that this is a bad idea because it benefits the many instead of the few is asinine. (Or at least that’s my argument against anyone who’d try to use that logic)

In the end, nothing like this would get passed unless a group with a lot of money liked it and lined the pockets of politicians to push it through.