My employer is trying to cause my divorce!
Discussion
I've just had an email telling me about changes to our flexible benefits for the coming tax year, including the fact that they are upping our C2W limit to £3k...
Thank good I've already decided on a cheaper bike and can't find anything else which comes close, otherwise I'd be back on here in April starting a "which saddle for someone with no testicles" thread!
It's bloody tempting though!
Thank good I've already decided on a cheaper bike and can't find anything else which comes close, otherwise I'd be back on here in April starting a "which saddle for someone with no testicles" thread!
It's bloody tempting though!
Gizmoish said:
When are you upgrading the De Rosa to a Venge then?
A nice Boardman CX Pro, on the other hand looks like the ultimate wet weather commuting load lugger from my latest research.
BadgerBenji said:
Kermit power said:
A nice Boardman CX Pro, on the other hand looks like the ultimate wet weather commuting load lugger from my latest research.
Good choice, but just think what a £3k cross bike gets you 
Gizmoish said:
BadgerBenji said:
Kermit power said:
A nice Boardman CX Pro, on the other hand looks like the ultimate wet weather commuting load lugger from my latest research.
Good choice, but just think what a £3k cross bike gets you I really don't understand how they managed to make it for the price, compared to anything else I've seen!
shouldbworking said:
Don't think you can get the pro in this country, only the team. Still a good bike though.
You can get it here now, although only in the last year or so, I think.You can't get the entry level Comp here, you can get the mid-range Team at Halfords, and the Pro from the Boardman LBS dealers.
Our C2W is with Cyclescheme rather than Halfords, hence the Pro rather than the team.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The Cyclescheme process is easy: You get a £1,000 voucher which then costs you £50 net/month (if you are a 40% tax payer), at the end of the 12 month hire period you have three options:1. You hand the bike back;
2. You pay 25% value of the bike to take immediate ownership; or
3. You pay 7% of the value of the initial £1,000 voucher i.e. £70 to continue to use the bike for a further 36 months with no further payments, however, strictly speaking you do not own the bike and therefore should not sell it as it remains the property of Cyclescheme until after the further 36 months. (The 7% deposit in this example is based on a voucher value greater than £500, if under £500 the deposit is reduced to 3%).
That's exactly what I have done over the past few years.
Basically option 3 is the most attractive meaning a £1,000 bike costs you £570.
I can't see how you would pay the same as a full price bike in the last two options, unless 100's of your colleagues are complete numpties
Edited by Andy OH on Tuesday 12th February 13:36
Andy OH said:
anonymous said:
[redacted]
The Cyclescheme process is easy: You get a £1,000 voucher which then costs you £50 net/month (if you are a 40% tax payer), at the end of the 12 month hire period you have three options:1. You hand the bike back;
2. You pay 25% value of the bike to take immediate ownership; or
3. You pay 7% of the value of the initial £1,000 voucher i.e. £70 to continue to use the bike for a further 36 months with no further payments, however, strictly speaking you do not own the bike and therefore should not sell it as it remains the property of Cyclescheme until after the further 36 months. (The 7% deposit in this example is based on a voucher value greater than £500, if under £500 the deposit is reduced to 3%).
That's exactly what I have done over the past few years.
Basically option 3 is the most attractive meaning a £1,000 bike costs you £570.
I can't see how you would pay the same as a full price bike in the last two options, unless 100's of your colleagues are complete numpties
This is, of course, rather dependent on you being a higher rate taxpayer. If you're not, then all you're really getting out of it is a 12 month interest free loan, and that assumes you can't negotiate a better discount from the shop by paying cash up front, given that they have a 10% fee charged by the voucher company.
Usget said:
Just got the same e-mail, also suggesting that it'll be available throughout the year if you request a Life Event. Tempted by a HT MTB...
Does it come up on your P11D as a tax-free benefit?
I couldn't tell you whether it appears on the P11D for certain, as I've only been on the scheme for the first time this tax year, but it certainly appears on the payslip in the same place as all the other flexible benefits.Does it come up on your P11D as a tax-free benefit?
As for the continuous entry through a life event, I'd like to think I may in some small way have had something to do with that, after emailing UK HR to point out that the normal entry point was completely at odds with the normal bike discounting period for UK bike shops.
You should be paying the full value of the bike. But the deductions from your salary are before tax. So you save 20%/40%/50% of the value. Plus extra if your company can fully recover the VAT.
Only the first £1000 is tax free though, so the additional £2k in this case is just your employer allowing a tax free loan. Which is a great perk, but you should be quoting it on your tax return and paying tax on it.
Only the first £1000 is tax free though, so the additional £2k in this case is just your employer allowing a tax free loan. Which is a great perk, but you should be quoting it on your tax return and paying tax on it.
Fourmotion said:
Only the first £1000 is tax free though, so the additional £2k in this case is just your employer allowing a tax free loan. Which is a great perk, but you should be quoting it on your tax return and paying tax on it.
Where are you getting this information from? Our HR and legal departments are pretty hot on getting this sort of thing absolutely spot on, but I've never seen any mention of this from them.There's also no mention of it in the DfT's explanatory guidebook. As far as I'm aware, the only thing which happens at the £1k level is that your employer needs their own consumer credit licence to be able to allow you to spend more than that.
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