ON YER BIKE!

The Cannondale ‘Bad Boy’ bike a steal at £1200

Have you thought about using a bicycle for work?

It’s very green – no emissions, no pollution, low carbon footprint

It’s very healthy – keeps you fit, gets you out in the fresh air

It can also be tax efficient!

You can pay 20p per mile to an employee using their own bike for business travel. This is a tax exempt payment as part of the HM Revenue & Customs ‘approved mileage allowance payments’. That means no tax to pay and no need to report the amount paid. There are certain criteria that have to be met, particularly with what constitutes business travel, so if you have any questions do get in touch.

You can also lend a bicycle and cycling safety equipment to an employee with no tax consequences as long as you meet 2 conditions:

1. It’s available to all employees
2. It’s used mainly for ‘qualifying journeys’ – though the good news is a qualifying journey includes between home and the workplace. (Note this journey doesn’t count as business travel as mentioned above – it’s complicated this tax business isn’t it!)

This is often used for cycle to work schemes. But what does this mean in real terms? Well, say you work in your own limited company. The company can buy you a bike which you can use to get to work on. You have to meet the conditions above but they’re not as restrictive as they might first seem.

Not all employees have to actually have a bike; just the offer has to be there.

You can use the bike for pleasure and members of your family can use it, as long as this is not the main use. You don’t have to try and keep records of mileage or time spent to prove it, or anything daft like that, as long as you’re using it for work regularly you’re fine.

Don’t forget the safety equipment either! This includes the obvious like a cycle helmet, but also bells, lights and dynamos, child safety seats, reflective clothing, reflectors etc. If there’s a safety aspect to it it’s allowed and the company can provide it without any tax consequences.

And finally, you can provide a parking space at work tax free for a bicycle, just as you can for a car.

Cannondale bikes can be found here… http://www.cannondale.com/en/Great%20Britain

If you’d like to know more, please contact us.

By Tracey Kelk