Don't try this Down Under !
In Australia expenses incurred traveling to and from the workplace are not tax deductible. On the other hand a salesperson visiting his/her clients using a pushbike would be entitled to claim all expenses. A very unlikely occurence in this vast country where summer temperatures regularly exceed 40C.
If I was running the show I would offer a subsidy towards the purchase of a bicycle; $50 up front and $150 after twelve months, provided the claimant can pass a basic fitness test.Over time this would prove much cheaper than the existing system where bad food production is subsidised (sugar...), people are allowed to let their health deteriorate and then have to be patched up at great expense in Public Hospitals.Sounds elitist but I fear the future where economic progress will make it possible for large numbers of people in China and India to swap their pushbike for a small three or four cylinder car.
