Cycle To Work Scheme.

[scothunter 12,609]

Place I work joined scheme and asking us if we would like to participate. Anyone took up the offer and is it worth doing?

[Rake aboot 4,929]

Saves you a fair whack on a bike bud.

 

Rules have changed a little recently and after the payments end the bike transfers to the shop that sold you it, for 2 yrs I think, but they don`t ask for it back or owt. You still keep the bike.

 

Saves you the tax, so if you`re a normal tax payer it saves you around 20 odd % or even more.

 

Lengthy boring quote.

 

In essence, your employer buys a bike for you to ride to work, you ‘hire’ it through salary sacrifice (which is where you save by not paying tax and National Insurance on the monthly fees) and at the end of the ‘hire’ period you buy the bike from your employer.

In other words, your salary sacrifice is made from your gross salary, not your net salary.

Hundreds of thousands of people have already bought a bike on the scheme, which was introduced as a tax exemption in 1999 by the government to ‘promote healthier journeys to work and reduce environmental pollution’.

Some local bike shops will happily sell you a more expensive bike

Because it was set up to promote work journeys rather than cycling in general, your employer technically remains the owner of the bike once you finish the hire period.

Everyone knows that in practice the employee is ‘buying’ the bike, but that isn’t legally the case until the salary sacrifice ends and the employer ‘sells’ the now heavily depreciated equipment to the employee.

In the past, few employers have bothered with the final sale transaction because it was a hassle, so many employees didn’t have to make a final payment. However, that changed a few years ago with HMRC clarifying that bikes needed to be sold at Fair Market Value so as to avoid the scheme being a tax loophole.

Third-party providers, such as Cyclescheme, now usually offer a variety of options: pay a small refundable deposit to re-hire the bike for three more years (after which the bike is yours for free), pay the fair market value (normally about 18 percent or 25 percent of the certificate value of the bike), or return the bike.

Most places do a deal to save you having to pay at the end of the agreement.

[scothunter 12,609]

Cheers for that mate. Might take them up on it. Every c**t up here has a bike up here and keep me fit. I'll enquire more tomorrow. What's in it for the company?

Not like them to fork out cash lol

 

can you go to any bike shop

[pesky1972 4,927]

Wouldn't you be better (cheaper) just buying a good quality bike second hand. Plenty about.

[scothunter 12,609]

Thats why i thought i would ask if anyone had done it.

brand new bike at half price. Seemed an ok deal.

[terryd 8,042]

I cycle 16 miles most days to work on a 30 quid bike. Got lucky mind as it is an old touring model. Plenty of good hybrid bikes about going cheap.

Unless of course you fancy the lycra road bike look

[low plains drifter 9,463]

Was it the Plebgate scandal that inspired you to look into this Scothunter ?

[scothunter 12,609]

Plebgate? Eh no. Was a memo from head office lol