Tax Free Cycling: - is this for real?



"David Brown :eek:)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Jon Senior" <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk
> > wrote in message I'm certainly intrigued. How do you
> > convince the employer to buy you a bike?
>
> They take the money from you, pre Income tax, National
> Insurance and then can either give you that VAT back or
> keep it. If they keep it, they actually make some of the
> profit. http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/daily-
> news/article.php?id=3866

Errm - No! Thet have to pay the VAT but are allowed to claim
it back - if they gave it to you they'd be out of pocket.

Russ
 
"Colin McKenzie" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Clive George wrote:
>
> > Read IR176 (google for it). If you don't use it mainly
> > for riding to
work,
> > you're breaking the rules.
>
> Interesting. Annoyingly, it doesn't seem to apply to self-
> employed people.
>

Time to incorporate ? :)

Russ
 
"David Brown :eek:)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > I know someone who got a top spec airbourne mtb (circa
> > 2.5k) through
this
> > scheme. I got a road bike.
>
> Don't you have to buy from certain retailers? That's what
> it makes out
here
> http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/daily-news/article.php?id=3866
>
> Do you know if it has to be a complete bike, I really
> would like a new Ti Singlespeed frame?

We didn't buy through certain retailers - the schemes been
around for about 4 years, although it apppears that to use
this boost crowd you may do. We just sorted it out
ourselves.

You *MUST* use the bike primarily for commuting or
commuting on the bike must be your primary form of
commuting and your employer (who is the purchaser of the
bike) must be satisfied of this (satisfied enough to
convince a tax inspector on their next visit!) otherwise
the scheme doesn't apply - I can't see any reason why a
frame wouldn't apply though.

Russ
 
Paul <[email protected]> wrote:
: Is this too good to be true?

: http://www.booost.uk.com/

There's a similar scheme for computers. Sadly our HR
department don't want the bother of either scheme. Sad
really. I could justify a Trek Madone for commuting if I
could get it like that :)

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a
philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook
 
> > They take the money from you, pre Income tax, National
> > Insurance and
then
> > can either give you that VAT back or keep it. If they
> > keep it, they actually make some of the profit. http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/daily-
> > news/article.php?id=3866
>
> Errm - No! Thet have to pay the VAT but are allowed to
> claim it back - if they gave it to you they'd be out
> of pocket.

Why would they be out of pocket if they claim it back? I've
done this with computers before and never payed and VAT,
income TAX or National Insurance.
 
"Russ" <[email protected]> wrote
in message
> You *MUST* use the bike primarily for commuting or
> commuting on the bike must be your primary form of
> commuting and your employer (who is the purchaser of the
> bike) must be satisfied of this (satisfied enough to
> convince a tax inspector on their next visit!) otherwise
> the scheme
doesn't
> apply - I can't see any reason why a frame wouldn't
> apply though.

Well my bike IS my primary form of getting to work but I use
the train when it's really wet, so that shouldn't be a
problem. Do I just get my boss to buy the bike/frame from
anywhere and deduct the cash prior to TAX from my wages.
What would they then put it down as on their tax returns?

--
David Brown :eek:)
http://kitemap.co.uk/stack
 
"Paul" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >I'm certainly intrigued. How do you convince the employer
> >to buy you a bike?
>
> >Jon
>
> That's my next job. I will try this over the next few
> weeks a will report back as to how I get on.
>

The only way I could get my employer to consider this was to
propose to renegotiate the salary package offered to all
employees - so that instead of being cash-only, there was an
option for cash+company bike, with the cash element of the
cash+company bike being at a reduced level than the cash-
only package. The difference in the cash elements (on gross
figures) being the cost of the bike, the cash element
reduction only applying in the year in which the bike is
purchased of course. This means that you are paying for the
bike although it, of necessity for the purposes of the
scheme, remains company property. However because of the
deduction is on the gross salary, the net effect on the pay
packet is less - you get a bike at only around two-thirds of
the cost, for a basic-rate tax payer (and possibly less if
the company is VAT registered).

Despite it being 'company property' you can effectively do
whatever you want with it, (apart from sell it - at least
until it has been written off the employer's books through
depreciation, or the company allows the employee to buy it
at a depreciated value - there are rules about transfer of
assets to employees). Of course the scheme says you should
use it 'mainly' for commuting but what does that mean? If
you only use it to ride to work only two days a week I
suppose you could reasonably argue that if you ride it for
leisure one day at the weekend then you have still used it
'mainly' for commuting. I can't see it as very likely that
anyone is going to try and measure what the 'main' use of
the company bike is anyway.

In the end the salary negotiations didn't happen though,
as delays in getting it on the table meant there were no
employees who were interested in using the scheme by the
time it got on the agenda - all the cyclists decided
they couldn't be bothered waiting and had already bought
new bikes!

Rich
 
Jon Senior wrote:
> Simon Brooke [email protected] opined the following...
>
>>in message <4097dd9e$0$25325$cc9e4d1f@news-
>>text.dial.pipex.com>, Paul ('[email protected]') wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Is this too good to be true?
>>>
>>>http://www.booost.uk.com/
>>>
>>>I read about this scheme recently and couldn't believe is
>>>was legit. It is in this months Cycling + and I wondered
>>>if anyone has any experience (good or bad) with it.

I found grovelling helped a lot - I also waited until my
boss bought a shiny new Freelander ( for his caravan and
dog, you know )

Sarissa
>>>
>>>In short you get a bike that your employer pays for
>>>from your salary. It's discounted to around 50% of it's
>>>usual value!
>>
>>If your employer buys you a bike, the employer can legally
>>reclaim the VAT on it and just give it to you. There's no
>>PAYE to pay, and it isn't taxed as a benefit in kind. The
>>scheme is in the 2003 budget. I've done this for one
>>employee. I don't really know the details because my
>>accountant dealt with it, but I don't think it can be in
>>lieu of normal salary, I think it has to be additional. I
>>don't know whether you could get one bike a year under
>>this scheme. You certainly can't get more than one bike in
>>a year. I'm pretty sure there's no limit to how much the
>>bike can cost - the bike we did it on was a very fully
>>equipped Santa Cruz with a retail inc VAT of £2,300. In
>>theory this is a bike to ride to work but whether you
>>actually have to ride it to work or not I don't know.
>>
>>In effect the saving is huge because you don't pay 25%
>>income tax + a few percent 'national insurance' plus 17.5%
>>VAT. And seeing you would normally have paid 25% income
>>tax on the money you use to pay the 17.5% VAT that's
>>really like 24% so all told the saving is about half the
>>cost of the bike.
>>
>>It's for real. Do it.
>
>
> I'm certainly intrigued. How do you convince the employer
> to buy you a bike?
>
> Jon
 
> Interesting. Annoyingly, it doesn't seem to apply to self-
> employed people.

<Mutter, grumble...> I used to think working from home was a
*good* idea.

d.
 
> I found grovelling helped a lot - I also waited until my
> boss bought a shiny new Freelander ( for his caravan and
> dog, you know )
>
> Sarissa

I 've just found out our HR dept made a proper ****-up about
six months ago and my silence can easily be bought with a
shiny Airborne :)



(Yes I am a ****)

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On Wed, 5 May 2004 18:48:03 +0000 (UTC), "davek"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
<[email protected]>:

>I used to think working from home was a *good* idea.

Apparently there's a scheme to redistribute second-hand PCs
to those out of work, so they can be unemployed from home.

(c) Jeremy Hardie. Obv.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University