Ola, I am considering buying a road bike on the cycle to work scheme but unfortunately I am currently a member of joblesstrackworld. I was thinking of getting my mam or dad to get it on theirs (sad at 25 I know) and my question is does the discount depend on your tax rate? Mums a teacher on 20something % tax and my dad’s on top rate. Would I get the bike cheaper on my dad’s scheme or doesn’t it matter?

Any advice welcome,

Ta,

Joe

Well, if your dad were to cycle to work 😉 then he’d be saving on the top rate tax band and would save more. It essentially works like a salary sacrifice so he’d be earning less above the top tax earnings level.

does the discount depend on your tax rate?

Yep. Unfortunately people who earn more money get cheaper bikes.

Bonus, cheers guys. Looks like dad’s getting himself a shiny new bike. That I may borrow on occasion.

excellent ploy. I like it 🙂

It is fraud tho.

hehehe

Hmm kind of fraud but I spose not much worse than getting a bike on the scheme that you never ride to work.

Well I’ll see if they go for it, he works from home most days so could be an added complication! Strangely my mum’s boss was all for me getting a bike on her scheme. Guess it depends how anal the people running the scheme are

Fraud. Get a grip of yourself. Its a couple of hundred quid! If your dad has an understanding boss he can buy whatever bike he wants and might not even have to pay anything back in salary sacrifice.

Buy two just to annoy Tandem Jeremy.

i did the same with my dad

I did the same for my son. 80 mile commute on a Kona Stinky?

If it’s through Cycle Scheme it most certainly is NOT fraud as the bike being purchased under the proviso that the majority of journeys to work are made using the bike has been removed. This is borne out on the agreement paperwork that I signed for mine yesterday and somebody asked the guy implementing it to confirm checks wouldn’t be made as he’ll not be using his for work despite what it says on the website. My employer (local council) even promotes the scheme as “being an excellent way to get you or a family member fitter and healthier by cycling”,

right, i looked into this and (if i understand it correct) technically YOU don’t own the bike. your employer does. at the end of 12 months they can offer to sell you the bike for a “nominal fee”. otherwise it would be hire purchase which isn’t tax deductible.

now my boss is a bit of a swine and he has a son about my height / build. I’d be willing to guess that after I’d paid out all that cash, some how I’d not be offered to buy it back.

this is all cool if you have a good boss or are in a big enough company for no one to care but i thought I’d just point it out