[Closed] Bike commuters can now use Cycle to Work to buy 'safety equipment'

Erm, kinda has always been the case. There was never anything to stop anyone just buying safety equipment

No bike required on the sale though now hounsy.

Always could include clothing/lights/lid etc with the bike purchase.
The key thing here is that now you can use the C2W scheme to buy such clobber without the need to buy a bike.

More middle class p*ss ripping of the scheme ahoy 😉

*sneaky edit as read whole article, give me me a break I've been on nights*

And yes, I did contemplate buying £1k worth of Oakleys 8)

"as customers return to stores looking to obtain safety equipment only packages worth up to £1,000"

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Tax breaks for the rich, just what labour were all about really...

Won't be long before someone takes the p@ss and uses it to buy a carbon d3, leatt neck brace, poc body armour etc for there 'commute to work'

Have you seen the potholes on the A629? 😀

[i]for there 'commute to work' [/i]

They'll need the protection for when the grammar police catch up with them 😉

I'd love to see what the residual value of a pair of bib shorts is going to be calculated as after 2 years of commuting use...

Yeah, the big change is "safety equipment only", no bike purchase required.
If you're after a £100 helmet and £500 worth of LED lights, but not a bike, this is a good deal.

[i]Tax breaks for the rich, just what labour were all about really.[/i]

"The [b]rich[/b]? Seriously?? Jeez.

[i]£500 worth of LED lights[/i] is NEVER a good deal, I think you'll find.

Take 45% off and it's a steal 🙂

£500 worth of LED lights is NEVER a good deal,

You is a mug 😉

I agree. I think the cycle scheme is a total bloody con, designed to let the rich have another free lunch. Its a ludicrous scheme.

I didn't pay full retail price. 😛

I dont think Im saving anything on my C2W scheme. £1000 bike, on the payslip its showing C2W £69.44 + C2W VAT £13.89 = £83.33 x 12 = £999.96. Therell be a final payment jobbie too, so basically worse than 0% finance!

Twas always thus if you get on with the LBS. I bought an Edge 705 and a new lid on the scheme about 5 years ago, IIRC they put it down as a Spesh Hardrock or something.

evillittlegoat, isn't that before tax though ?
If you'd been paid that £999.96, wouldn't you then have paid £250 or so in tax and NIC, so you've actually got a £1000 bike for ~£750 ?
Isn't that how it works ?

What's this "tax breaks for the rich" thing all about anyway ?
They let poor people buy bikes too, you know.

Thats it Graham, I didnt read the agreement correctly. I thought Id have to pay the residual value at the end, 25%, so £250. But I just pay 20% of that so £50. Which isnt too bad 🙂

I got a tax break yeah. But RICH? STOP CALLING ME [u]RICH[/u]. I wish I bloody was!

I'd like to know what is regarded as 'safety equipment'.
if it's just day-glo tabbards, ankle bracelets and polystyrene headwear I'm not sure whether it's worth it.

Just a thought - does "Rich" = "Someone with a job" to those idiots who keep using the word?

That article doesn't make it clear if that's a £1000 limit all in one go or over 12 months.
So, could I for example, buy a £100 helmet today, then go back next month for a £200 light, then the following month for a £100 hi-viz goretex jacket ?

yes, all of the commuters I see are on gold plated, diamond encrusted, Louis Vitton panniered, chauffeur driven Bentley road bikes, commuting to lunch at Claridges.

It's not clear anywhere. The government say you can just get bits - but scroll down to [url= http://www.bikehub.co.uk/featured-articles/cycle-to-work-scheme/ ]"Bike or Just Bits"[/url] and it depends on the scheme.
Cyclescheme, that my company use (for us rich bastards) only say "get your bike".

evillittlegoat, isn't that before tax though ?
If you'd been paid that £999.96, wouldn't you then have paid £250 or so in tax and NIC, so you've actually [s]got a £1000 bike for [/s][b]paid your employer[/b] ~£750 [b]for the priviledge of using a bike which they now own[/b] ?
Isn't that how it works ?

Graham - not sure if they're all the same but with the scheme we have you have one opt in window per year. You say what value voucher you want and that's what you get, there's no going back later for another £100. I guess you could just get a £1000 voucher and use it as a credit note at the LBS though.

hopkinsgm, does that ever actually happen though ?
Has anyone ever been refused the bike at the end of the scheme ?

I know it all sounds like an officially endorsed scam.

If the right to purchase the actual bike hired by an individual employee is guaranteed then this would change to a benefit in kind and exit the salary sacrifice offering.

IME the fair market value payment is just a token amount, you still save money. However most shops won't give discount on C2W as they have to pay the scheme something silly like 10% of any sale made. Depending what you're after, and if you have the cash up front, you could possibly negotiate a saving close to that with the scheme.

Surely with the level of aggression riders now have to face on the roads, a Go Pro 3 could be considered safety equipment...

I guess whether you pay the proper fair market value will depend how tight on tax your employer is.

Safety equipment is clothing helmets lights body armour ect.

When I got my commuting bike I got a end of year stumpjumper for 1600 as the bike then couple of pairs of shorts a camelbak some pedals, a command seat post and loads of other stuff most of wich was safety equipment, but I think they put it on the price of the bike, ended up about 2k with 12 monthly payments of 80ish quid and a final payment of 130 to "loan" the bike for further 3 years, at that point I take ownership with no charge!

I think it's a great deal, don't see why anyone thinks its not, and I'm not rich and not is my wife who actually got the bike as she is the one with cycles heme not me

I'm really surprised by the whole rich / middleclass thing going on here. I know three people who now own and rides bikes that they got only because the CTW scheme was available and prompted them to get a bike. Is that not a good thing?

The CTW in my work was and is available to all employees from minimum wage cleaner to Chief Exec. It is not aimed at rich people. Yep, savings are greater for higher rate tax payers but does that really affect your life that much?

People buying bikes is a good thing.

[i]I'm really surprised by the whole rich / middleclass thing going on here[/i]

I thought I'd covered that. You know, with the word "idiots".

This 'ere video also shows this to be wrong "[i]If you...don't make the fair market value payment at the end of the term, you own precisely nothing[/i]"

Although, whether my company has "opted in" to this is another matter.

Just in the process of setting it up in my office :-)and we have the option to top it up as well 🙂

People buying bikes is a good thing.

and people buying *better* bikes is great. Where I've seen it it has encouraged people to buy a better quality bike than they otherwise would have. That's good news for bike shops, good news for the industry, and means the owners are more likely to enjoy riding and keep riding.

It also means that you get some brilliant bikes around the £1000 price point now as this is so competitive. thinking in particular about the Boardman bikes.

and we have the option to top it up as well

well, just make sure the tax treatment of the top-up is appropriate as it is a taxable benefit, or else.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a tax advisor, or a doctor.