cycle to work scheme

I got C2W and I work overseas, on Oil rigs!!! :shock:

Hi you are lucky people i work for M&S they will not start a ctws so i had to buy my own bike weeps bucket fulls,and no you dont have to cycle to work it is not enforceable .i dont know about car allowance ?

0200 is the best time to go down the A13, at least most of the traffic is off the road.

Don't fret over the milage though, no one checks.

weeell... my company does ask. I suppose we're a smaller outfit and the overheads on our payroll dept. are not insignificant (all but though), the kindly ladies of accounts do ask tricky questions when we hand in our forms.

So I've got my c2w mtb wheels although the form said 'safety equipment, lights' (that was the cycle shop's idea) and when accounts lady came round last Thursday and enquired after my bike commute I was able to tell her truthfully what a lovely ride it had been (... on my road bike).

I am not jealous at all not me
As being self employed I cant use any of the scheme and would have the shell out for one myself

Not jealous at all

Hi you are lucky people i work for M&S they will not start a ctws so i had to buy my own bike weeps bucket fulls,and no you dont have to cycle to work it is not enforceable .i dont know about car allowance ?

Just saw your boss on TV going on about corporate responsibility to gree issues (plastic bags!) so may be worth sending him a letter pointing out the green benefits (and PR) in offering a C2W scheme.

I'm getting my company to set one up at present. We do a lot of work in transport issues and help companies produce green travel plans so it was a bit hypocritical that the company provides company cars but isn't on a C2W scheme :oops:

No they don't give a monkey's about commuting. More generally the idea is that you'll be fitter and therefore take less time off work and save the NHS some money.

Sicknote wrote:

I am not jealous at all not me
As being self employed I cant use any of the scheme and would have the shell out for one myself

Not jealous at all

Yeah, I'm in that boat too but I wonder if we could offset it in our self assessment as travel expenses. I managed it with a £600 stereo for my old car because it had a bluetooth hands free phone thing on it that I needed to take calls. 8)

Why can't self employed people cycle to work? I do, I drop all my tools at the job and then just cycle in until it's finished.

I'm gonna give it a go anyway come April.

jeannot18 wrote:

hodsgod wrote:

0200 is the best time to go down the A13, at least most of the traffic is off the road.

Don't fret over the milage though, no one checks.

Thanks for the replies people. Hodsgod, i hear you but Saturday night and SUnday night I only feel safe in my car. The number of idiots coming back from clubs at that time is frightening. I sometimes do it on my motorbike and even then I am extra careful.

JC

You are right yes, but isn't there a good cycle route off the main road? I road along it from Romford to Tower hill via Barking for the London SKyride a few weeks ago.

You can claim mileage this from the Department of Transport

Employers can pay up to 20 pence per mile tax free to employees who use their own cycles for
business travel. Journeys between home and work are not business travel for this purpose.
Any employee considering joining a Cycle to Work scheme will need to consider whether they would
prefer to use their own cycle and be able to claim up to the 20p per mile tax free for any business
miles they travel, as opposed to having a cycle loaned to them by their employer.
Employees cannot claim the 20p per mile tax-free mileage allowance for business travel if they use a
cycle loaned to them by their employer.

From one I can tell this scheme is only for Limited Companies,

Sicknote wrote:

I am not jealous at all not me
As being self employed I cant use any of the scheme and would have the shell out for one myself

Not jealous at all

I'm self employed. I have a limited company and I'm the only employee, and my accountant sorted it out for me.
And, as I'm the boss of said employee, I turned a blind eye, when the employee went way over the £1000 limit...

Incidently what is people's experience at the end of the lease period? Have you all been offered the chance to buy the bike for a nominal fee? The C2W scheme is a great way of getting the bike cheaply and, effectively, on interest free credit but if at the end the employer doesn't let you buy it it isn't so good. From the HMRC guidance it isn't legal for the company to provide an assurance that they will sell it to you before the lease expires. Therefore any informal agreement could be breached by the employer and you wouldn't be able to kick up a fuss.

Just wondered if any companies retained the bikes themselves although I agree it would be pretty pointless.

Aspman77 wrote:

The ownership has to change at the end of the rental period. I think the tax laws stop the companies effectively giving them away and it has to be bought for 'market value'. For the reason that market value depends on the market situation they can't tell you in advance what the final purchase fee will be.

Sorry for the pedantry, the reason that it is not permitted to specify a final price to transfer ownership is that the hire agreement would then become a "hire purchase" agreement, which would not be eligible for the tax concession.