Cycle to work purchases

seanorawe

I have finally decided on a bike to get through the cycle to work scheme.

I wanted an entry level racer, and narrowed it to the Specialized sectuer and Allez 16

I went to the LBS on Saturday and settled for the allez, it was comfortable enough for commuting also.

I got I got the allez 16, polar FT7 Heart rate monitor, Shimano R087 shoes, cateye EL220 set, Mavic waterproof jacket, bottle cage, bottle, Shim 540 pedals

All for £800.

CrouchingPig

I take it you're paying 60% or there abouts of the £800 - due to it being a C2W scheme?

seanorawe

Im paying back £66 per month from my salary, then with tax and NI savings it works out ive paid around 40 something a month for it.

hulla the hulla

….don't forget to budget for the residual cost of 25% of the overall amount after the first year because strictly speaking the company own the bike, not you and you will have to "pay them" to take ownership….

alfablue

The HMRC deem that a 1 year old bike of £500-£1000 original purchase price is worth £250 after 1 year, and reducing further after that.

The options are, 1) employer gives you bike FOC, you pay tax on benefit in kind of £250 (which will be £250 your personal tax rate, so £50, £100 or £125 net).

2) Employer charges you £250; therefore no tax (but you are worse off than 1)

3) an intermediate sum is charged, you pay tax on the difference between £250 and that sum.

4) you continue to use the bike until year 5 when it can be transferred to you foc.

5) Some schemes (such as Cyclescheme) will take owbnership from employer at 1 year, offer that you pay a deposit of £70ish, they transfer the bike to you after year 4 with nothing further to pay.

6) some other arrangement :?

fungus_the_muffin_man

And make sure your going to stay with your employer for the year.

I made my first payment in december and have taken up a new postion at a new Hospital. I'm now looking foward to a big lump sum chuck coming out on my last wage.

smidsy

In short the C2W scheme has many negatives and very little benefit.

If you can get a deal for cash you will generally be no worse off and the bike is yours from the off.

pdw

smidsy wrote:

In short the C2W scheme has many negatives and very little benefit.

If you say so. It rather depends on the scheme. Overall, I'll have paid around 50% for my bike, bought at sale prices, and I got to spread the payments over a year. The change in VAT rules mean that it'd only be 43% or so saving if I did it again today, but that seems pretty worthwhile to me.

seanorawe

smidsy wrote:

In short the C2W scheme has many negatives and very little benefit.

If you can get a deal for cash you will generally be no worse off and the bike is yours from the off.

For you maybe? My circumstances wont allow me such pleasures as buying a bike outright. Therefore the scheme is full of benefits. Ill be working for my company for the forseeable future. The only way ill leave is ifi get made redundant.

hulla the hulla

It definitely works for some and not others, I suppose it's up to the individual to assess whether it's worth it or not.

The thing that gauls me is that the government moved the goal posts and back dated it materially changing the scheme into something I wouldn't have otherwise signed up to. I had no option other than to like it, as I couldn't leave the scheme.

alfablue

hulla the hulla wrote:

The thing that gauls me is that the government moved the goal posts and back dated it materially changing the scheme into something I wouldn't have otherwise signed up to. I had no option other than to like it, as I couldn't leave the scheme.

They didn'treally move the goalposts in that people were always liable to tax on the benefit in kind when taking ownership of the bike, they just offered more explicit guidance.

I got a Planet-X SL Carbon with Dura Ace shifters and mechs for £999; I paid about £750 for it (including £50 to take ownership).

I then got a Condor Heritage tourer (without wheels and seat as I had these already, which kept it under £1k - not really supposed to do this but Condor didn't care) and paid a similar amount, but Cyclescheme are the owners until the end of year 4 when it will become mine (I paid them a £70 "deposit" which they use to transfer ownership to me in year 4).

I'm very happy, I got two great bikes that I couln't have got any cheaper paying cash, and I wouldn't have had them if it weren't for the scheme.