Cycle 2 work and DHL's stupidity...

pablojag

Work for DHL too, recently heard C2W scheme had been put on hold due to the excess paperwork? with an announcement due shortly...2011 maybe?

Looks like I'll have a lot longer to downsize my opinion of what I want to choose.

itsbruce

el_presidente wrote:

Quite frankly I am amazed this one survived the budget. Why my taxes are being used to subsidise people buying mutliple £1000 bikes I have no idea.

It's surely a better way of stimulating the economy than simply printing money It may be keeping some bike shops afloat. But I suspect that it may have survived for a couple of less benign reasons:

1. Cameron is still sensitive about the jag-following-the-bike story.
2. He daren't appear less bike-friendly than his arch rival Boris.

The Rookie

Trouble with that argument is that, like car scrappage, the vast majority of the money goes outside the UK, it's meant to be a 'green' incentive to encourage car drivers onto bikes, but in reality (IMO) its just allowing bike riders to buy nicer bikes with some tax breaks! Having said that my commuter cost me £268, so while a shiney new bike would be nice, using C2W even at £500 would not be a saving!

Simon

dhope

The Beginner wrote:

Having said that my commuter cost me £268, so while a shiney new bike would be nice, using C2W even at £500 would not be a saving!

It's not £500 or nothing though, it was in £50 increments here. £300 vouchers, equiv of £150-£200 take home (ish). Still money saved.
I put the full £1k in on mine and figure it'll cost me around £55 a month in the end. Cheapest £1k loan I'll ever have. Still commute on my fixed at the moment though.

I think Halfords would have let me top up over the grand. I paid a £1000 deposit (as I was too impatient to wait for my vouchers to turn up), took the bike away, then went in 10 days later, refunded the full deposit and paid in full again with vouchers.
I'm fairly sure if the bike had been £1500 I could have got away with paying a £500 'deposit', then just going back with the intention of paying the balance with vouchers.

snailracer

DHL is applying fiscal discipline on your behalf by limiting the amount you can borrow

Beeblebrox

Without doing the maths I'm not sure - but how much does the government lose in NI and income tax will it regain by the VAT on a £1000 bike?

I don't know enough of the details of the scheme, but if someone does, plug in the numbers with someone of average salary. Plus there's the bike shop employees/shop paying their taxes.

alfablue

they lose 12.8% NI and 20% Tax (basic rate, 40% higher rate, 50% top rate) so £328 (£528, £628), then they lose employers NI so another £128, then VAT so £175, then the employer can write off 100% of the bike value against corporation tax on profits (28%) so £280, so all in a £1000 bike costs the revenue £911 for a basic rate tax payer, £1011 for higher rate and £1111 for upper rate tax payer :shock:

erm. . . better double check that :oops:

Robert208454

As per my question gets lost in all the other rubbish!! :roll: Jesus this is not a political forum it's a CYCLE FORUM!!! :shock:

alfablue

Robert208454 wrote:

As per my question gets lost in all the other rubbish!! :roll: Jesus this is not a political forum it's a CYCLE FORUM!!! :shock:

Strange outburst :?

A few points:

you were not the op, it isn't your thread.

You work for DHL? So ask DHL.

Your question is not being ignored, probably no one knows. People where you work are more likely to know.

This is not a DHL internal newsletter thread. It isn't a DHL human resources thread, its a CYCLING THREAD!

Politics encroaches on all walks of life, cycling is not immune.



pleased to be of help

paulyz

Hello all,

I appreciate this is a rather belated reply to the thread, but I was wondering if anybody could tell me the names / locations of LBS's which they know accept Halfords vouchers? My employer (also DHL) only uses Halfords, but I'm willing to travel a bit to increase my options / not have to spend serious wedge on a bike which may well fall apart as a result of Halfords' shoddy bike building.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

nicklouse

Err Halfords dont actually build the bikes.
and some are actually better than some LBS.

most bikes just need the bars positioning the seat post fitting and some pedals selecting and fitting (usually the buyers choice).

hmbadger

biondino wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

I've never been impressed with the C2W sheme, you can pick up bargains and save just as much money.

You provide links to the bargains and I'm sure you'll get a lot of thanks. Otherwise, I'll make do with my £400 off a Focus, ta.

I've been tempted by this:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/btwin-facet-7-id_8127610.html

I'm not going to get another C2W bike - hacked off with the change in rules which meant that I had to pay more than I thought I was.

cyclingprop

Action bikes (several central London stores) can and will. Get them to quote and they'll let you know what it costs. Gives you access to their stock over and above Halfords (though you can get Halfords too).

I spend way too much in there. Jon or Liam at Victoria are particularly good.

Jay dubbleU

I got my first bike for 20 years on C2W from Halfords about 4 years ago. They told me then that the could get any bike provided it was a current model - I opted for a Giant so don't assume that you have to restrict yourself to bikes stocked by Halfords.

Actually bike build is a misnomer - most bikes come from the manufacturer fully built and just need the wheels fitting, bars turning and pedals fitted - if you're unsure about indexing gears get your LBS to do it

kurako

Is this the same DHL which is running logistics for the Olympics? The same one that is running a radio ad riffing on the prospect of a GB track cyclist having to ride a 12 year olds bike cos his didn't get delivered? How ironic!

I looked at these sort of schemes myself. Is it really worth tying yourself into Halfords for the tax saving on a 500 quid bike? Even if you're a 40pc rate payer it's still only a couple hundred pounds.

Shop around some of the online stores like wiggle, chain reaction, ribble. They have ex-demo bikes at big reductions. Also worth bearing in mind (and I realise it's a long way off at the moment) that 2013 model bikes will start coming out in the autumn and that means big reductions on 2012 bikes. If you are looking to make savings shop around. You may just find a bargain.

2wheelzgood

nice to know that lbs's might take halfords vouchers. I might've looked into that. my employer used halfords up to 1k and I did call halfords to see about sourcing other brands but they never called me back or provided much inspiration. That and you have to buy it before they'll order it in.

anyway, rule changes mean that I'd a company goes for the 12 month scheme, you now cannot have the bike for a nominal value but have to pay 15 or 25% at the end depending on the initial value. so savings are more like 20% which us much easier to find in normal shopping...won't be getting a bike on it now.

alfablue

The "rule changes" mean that on a £1000 bike, the HMRC expect that it is worth £250. This means there are 3 options:

1) The employer gives you the bike free of charge at the end of 12 months, you pay tax on the benefit in kind at your applicable rate. If you pay 20% tax that's £50; 40% tax = £100; 50% tax = £125. This is the best option in my view.

2) The transfer of the bike is delayed for a further 3 years; you still ride it, you pay no more hire charges, you pay the HMRC value for a 4 year old bike (which might be £50 or less on a 4 year old bike). This is the option Cyclescheme gave me when my employer (against my wishes) GAVE the bike to Cyclescheme for free!

3) You pay £250 for the bike at the end of one year.

Unfortunately most employers have had an ill-informed knee-jerk reaction to the HMRC guidance (the rules didn't change, they just issued explicit guidance on bike values; we always were liable to the tax on the benefit, it was just "glossed over") and they believe they have to charge the £250 on a year old £1k bike.

My current bike is now 2 years old; still "owned" by Cyclescheme, but will become mine in 2 more years. Not ideal, but I still got, in effect, an interest free loan and about £300 on a custom built tourer.

I would suggest having a sit-down with your employer before giving up the idea.

Drysuitdiver

Kurako wrote:

Is this the same DHL which is running logistics for the Olympics? The same one that is running a radio ad riffing on the prospect of a GB track cyclist having to ride a 12 year olds bike cos his didn't get delivered? How ironic!

I looked at these sort of schemes myself. Is it really worth tying yourself into Halfords for the tax saving on a 500 quid bike? Even if you're a 40pc rate payer it's still only a couple hundred pounds.

Shop around some of the online stores like wiggle, chain reaction, ribble. They have ex-demo bikes at big reductions. Also worth bearing in mind (and I realise it's a long way off at the moment) that 2013 model bikes will start coming out in the autumn and that means big reductions on 2012 bikes. If you are looking to make savings shop around. You may just find a bargain.

that would be UPS.

rick_chasey

I helped run my local student cinema at uni - a proper professional outfit, with proper films, reels, a proper cinema, etc.

Anyway, we used DHL to courier the reels of film to us, so we could show them.

They were regularly terrible. Mis-placing reels, dropping them in the wrong place (and these things were valuable, often the only reel copies in the whole of the UK for that film etc).

We complained and complained. I looked into changing supplier and realised it would cost us double if we did, so we had to suck it up.

spen666

......

The Rookie

Voodoo Hoodoo, usually about £499.99, air forks as standard with Ardent tyres.

Simon

2wheelzgood

Thanks alphablue. I'll pass that info on to a colleague of mine. I knew about the values being guidance from HMRC and that it'd be less and they have that listed up to so many years.
Didn't realise there was this much flexibility once an employer had settled on the 1 year term for their scheme, thanks!
Certainly the 1st option seesm best, I wouldn't want to have to deal with the albeit small costs but hassle of what if it is stolen after the year but before 4 years scenario!