Gotta love STW, a conversation about C2W has essentially evolved (or devolved?) into a salary sacrifice lease cars, Tax and NI dodging ****fest…
Top work fellas.
The government are proposing a cap on all sal-sac schemes - C2W, cars, pensions, and childcare.
The vast majority of bikes bought through the scheme at my work are done so not because of the savings but because they can pay them off monthly without any of the usual checks and independent or credit firm would normally do.
I'd planned to get a new bike via C2W scheme next year, but the threat of the new cap and potential immediately coming into effect has knee jerked me into an order of a new bike, wheelset, cassette and chain, what a lovely early xmas present.
Whilst I agree all tax should be fair, singling out C2W over the other schemes which can benefit from Salary sacrifice seems a bad move, probably go down well with non cyclists, but not well with me as a cyclist.
The government are proposing a cap on all sal-sac schemes - C2W, cars, pensions, and childcare.
Good job I got my C2W bike a couple of weeks ago!
I am going to need a replacement car very soon, currently working out whether to go for sal-sac on that (which is basically dead money, do I really need a new car?!) or just buy a secondhand car outright (the downside being that I don't have that amount of spare cash).
Maybe there are other options like renting a car as and when I actually need it... 🤔
because somebody who spends £4k on a nice bike was pretty much always going to ride a bike. Going for a ride on a £1k bike is just as good for health and wellbeing as a £4k bike. It is a very poor return for the lost tax revenue.Unpopular opinion: why restrict it? With the state of the countries health, surely anything which gets people off their sofas and outdoors has to be a good thing!
It would be hilarious now if nothing was changed in the budget next week. Given that the scheme, and especially the ease with which it can be abused have been so well publicised recently.
I bet loads of people have come around to a "everyone else is doing it, I'm a mug of I don't too" mentality over the last few weeks.
Stupid situation all round.
It would be hilarious now if nothing was changed in the budget next week.
Even if it is, any changes won't kick in until the next financial year. I predict a mass rush of C2W applications! 😅
It would be hilarious now if nothing was changed in the budget next week. Given that the scheme, and especially the ease with which it can be abused have been so well publicised recently.
I bet loads of people have come around to a "everyone else is doing it, I'm a mug of I don't too" mentality over the last few weeks.
Stupid situation all round.
Exactly this, I bought a Santa Cruz Branson earlier this year on a great deal and my employer didn’t have a C2W scheme. I was happy with the bike but eBike curious and could help but wonder if I should have taken the plunge. I’m time poor, have a young family and not a lot of trails close by… maybe an eBike would make some boring clay-mud XC riding a bit more fun AND allow me to ride local trails with a bit more intensity
I’ve moved job and my current employer offers a decent C2W voucher, it feels silly not to at the level of discount I can get.
It would be hilarious now if nothing was changed in the budget next week.
Even if it is, any changes won't kick in until the next financial year. I predict a mass rush of C2W applications! 😅
I recall when I was purchasing my first home, the change to stamp duty in the autumn budget of 17 or 18 came into effect days later, not April.
because somebody who spends £4k on a nice bike was pretty much always going to ride a bike. Going for a ride on a £1k bike is just as good for health and wellbeing as a £4k bike. It is a very poor return for the lost tax revenue.Unpopular opinion: why restrict it? With the state of the countries health, surely anything which gets people off their sofas and outdoors has to be a good thing!
I don’t agree. I know people who have bought cargo bikes and now used them loads on the school run on the way to work. They had seen my GSD and commented that they would love one but there are too expensive. Then our scheme upped the price and they bought the bikes. They now cycle not drive and have cut out lots of car use. They wouldn’t have done it without the scheme.
Gowerboy, yeah, that's fair, my comment was aimed at normal bikes rather than cargo bikes or ebikes where £1k really won't go very far.
Has the bike industry been lobbying government?
Any other industry would be knocking on the door of government to suggest why it should be allowed to continue
Has the bike industry been lobbying government?
Any other industry would be knocking on the door of government to suggest why it should be allowed to continue
There have been a fair few articles about it in various cycling magazines and websites, I imagine some of them have made it to Government level. Cycling UK and Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans) may have some more info on it in terms of their official response.
I know people who have bought cargo bikes and now used them loads on the school run on the way to work
My old local bike shop/workshop in Stockholm were actively pushing cargo bikes for specifically this purpose. Ok, it was a posh part of town, but their messaging was that, despite the bikes being expensive, by the time you have paid for parking or a garage in the area, the bike was the waaaaay cheaper option for taking the kids to school, shopping, getting about.
They are 100% right in this and, honestly, if I had kids and was still in town, I'd be doing the same thing. Traffic was a nightmare at the best of times and the cycle infrastructure was good enough to support Livelos and other cargobikes.
No mention of Cycle to Work in Rachel Reeves' Budget despite reports spending cap would be introduced
No mention, but have they actually published the documents yet. It is whether they didn't mention it, or have decided not to go ahead with the change.
but have they actually published the documents yet.
It's difficult to tell, what with the sheer amount of shite that's been leaked, retracted, hinted at and speculated upon.
But yes, it does seem we can all go out and get tax-free £4000 bikes to go and ride in the Surrey Hills. What a relief!
I suspect they just didn't have the bandwidth to fit it in after all, with all the other chopping and changing and drama.
It just shows how damaging all the kite flying does to the economy - people and businesses worrying about changes and perhaps even taking what are proved unnecessary actions or simply doing nothing all because of government kite flying or, given the febrile atmosphere, third parties trying to stir it up. And all for no change at all. We’re governed by incompetents.
I suspect they just didn't have the bandwidth to fit it in after all, with all the other chopping and changing and drama.
"Bread and Circuses" innit...
The headline for salary sacrifice is the £2K NI Pension Cap (IMO), but at least you can spunk loadsa money at an eeeb.
It just shows how damaging all the kite flying does to the economy - people and businesses worrying about changes and perhaps even taking what are proved unnecessary actions or simply doing nothing all because of government kite flying or, given the febrile atmosphere, third parties trying to stir it up. And all for no change at all. We’re governed by incompetents.
The other option is to hide away and come up with a load of ideas in isolation that might work in the common room but don't survive exposure to people who have a vested interest. Frinstance does cycle salary sacrifice on bikes "cost" the treasury a significant amount of money each year vs does the Cycle to work scheme prop up the UK bike industry and support a load of jobs?
I don't envy them the task of coming up with a budget to please everyone annoy the least amount of people
I don't envy them the task of coming up with a budget to please everyone annoy the least amount of people
Even your change wasn't right - it should have been "appeal the people that might vote for them".
It just shows how damaging all the kite flying does to the economy - people and businesses worrying about changes and perhaps even taking what are proved unnecessary actions or simply doing nothing all because of government kite flying or, given the febrile atmosphere, third parties trying to stir it up. And all for no change at all. We’re governed by incompetents.
Given almost no change at a budget is overnight it would seem a bit dim to have taken pre-emptive action based on a rumour! Its not like the "kite flying" was even substantiated to come from the gov themselves! However perhaps by the time the 2029 Sal Sac for pensions rules have actually been worked out in detail - they will actually extend to all Sal Sac schemes.
If I ask colleagues at work what they bought a bike for, its almost always for commuting. They are often visible in the bike storage. Boardman hybrids or Bromptons common.
If I ask MTBers what they bought a bike on the scheme for, its almost always for mountain biking.
I think theres an element of selection bias going on here.
They need to restrict the fees though, CycleScheme are owned by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhawk_Network_Holdings . They charge the shop 10%, and the employee 7% for doing very little. Wouldn't be surprised if they make more money than the manufacturer and the shop selling the bike once all costs are factored in.