Cycle to work for director of ltd company

When you say you run a small company, how many people are we talking? Do you mean it's just you like a Ltd co. contractor? If so, one option you might want to look at is purchasing a company bike. As long as it's available for everybody to use and the majority of usage is business related, it's fine. All maintenance costs can then also be paid from the Ltd co as the company owns the asset.

IANAA, so you'll need to run it past your accountant, but it's a lot less faff that setting up a scheme if it's only a few of you.

Edit*
I should clarify, I'm not suggesting you should buy a fancy mountain bike for personal use under the guise of using it for work. In my case, I already had bikes for fun but needed something for on-road commuting to my primary client (bike->train->bike) and for other local customers. I do use it occasionally for personal use, but I can happily justify that to the tax-man. YMMV!

Do you actually have a place of work separate to your home?

If so, your accountant can administer the scheme as part of the payroll.

If they are really too useless, you need to be changing accountant anyway.

If you WFH, I think it's a non-starter mate. Or it was when I asked my accountant some years ago.

If you're a director and an employee it's fairly straightforward, assuming you do actually have to travel to/from work or clients.

That's my setup, my C2W's about a year in now. Comes off my payslip, no problem at all.

Sole trader - no.
Ltd co - only if you draw a salary which is subject to PAYE and is greater than national minimum wage.
Search 'cycle to work for self-employed' online.

I always used Mileage Allowance Payments

20p per mile for a bike, soon adds up for a decent commute

Ltd Co with one director - it’s just a company asset so buy it and use it.

That said, I haven’t because I can’t really justify it - but with a previous client I cycled to their office every day so would have been able to justify a modest bike purchase through the company on that basis.

luketracey
I always used Mileage Allowance Payments

20p per mile for a bike, soon adds up for a decent commute

Who'd ever know you didn't drive? cough<45p/mile>cough

Start here

Have a look at Green Commute Initiative, they can get you set up really easily as a small company. Worth checking out.

Thanks for the replies. It is a ltd company with two directors, I have a second company that could justify ebikes for site use but it's new so not in a position to spend 5K on a bike.

I do work from home, but I do often travel to a client's office where it would be used occasionally.

Do they check/limit on how much cycling to work is done?

Do they check/limit on how much cycling to work is done?

Who's "they"?

It would of been more than a touch suspicious as I didn’t own a car at the time 😂

Who’d ever know you didn’t drive? cough<45p/mile>cough

Motorbikes are only 24ppm, bit of a shitter as mine costs more than car to run but would be well embarrassing to get caught cheating the work system 🤔

Who’s “they”?

The people who check company accounts, personal taxes and stuff?

I bought one for my limited co years ago. Used to travel to and from the station 5 miles way (as all my customers were at the end of that train line). I remember it being way less than 20p a mile tho, But you could claim a breakfast on the company I think!

Not sure how ‘they’ could check how much I use the bike.
If it’s just you, the business can buy a bike, you dont need to contribute via salary sacrifice it just needs to be a ‘pool’ bike for any employee to use.

I was a contractor, I just did a couple bikes as pool vehicles

Oh and find a better accountant.

We used the green commute initiative to get an E-bike for my co-director. Really simple to use, no limits and a wide network of shops that they work with.

This was important with the bike she wanted as they are rarer than hen's teeth. Set up from scratch and riding her new bike within 48 hours.

Oh and find a better accountant.

I had to 🙂

I always used Mileage Allowance Payments

20p per mile for a bike, soon adds up for a decent commute

Can you legitimately claim Mileage Allowance for a commute? I didn't think you could.

Can you legitimately claim Mileage Allowance for a commute? I didn’t think you could.

If by mileage allowance you mean tax relief then yes if it is not your standard place of work. E.g. if you have followed the recent trend of moving to some work from home, then if WFH is 60% and you go to the office 40% using your own vehicle you should now be able to claim tax relief for going to the office.

If the company is paying you money then that's not tax relief, it's just income as agreed within your contact surely.

E.g. if you have followed the recent trend of moving to some work from home, then if WFH is 60% and you go to the office 40% using your own vehicle you should now be able to claim tax relief for going to the office.

Really? In all honesty I hope it's not true, or if it is that loophole gets closed quick.

Thanks for the replies. It is a ltd company with two directors, I have a second company that could justify ebikes for site use but it’s new so not in a position to spend 5K on a bike.

I do work from home, but I do often travel to a client’s office where it would be used occasionally.

Do they check/limit on how much cycling to work is done?

Just buy it via the company (claiming back the VAT), and use it. This is what I use to do when a Contractor. Most tax efficient approach.

Motorbikes are only 24ppm, bit of a shitter as mine costs more than car to run but would be well embarrassing to get caught cheating the work system

As long as the vast majority of use is on company business, just buy it via the company (claiming back to VAT) and , no issues and no personal tax to pay. Plus all costs (running etc) go through the company including PPE. This is what I did when contracting in the SE. Use to buy a new bike every year (doing 20k miles pa) - worked out a cheap way of transport, especially when balanced against time (as was paid by the hour).

If by mileage allowance you mean tax relief

I claimed it from my employer(s) but the the rate was capped at what the IR said was allowable, so sort of. I didn't do self assessment and it was separately identified but wasn't taxed on my payslips in either the public or private sector.

if WFH is 60% and you go to the office 40% using your own vehicle you should now be able to claim tax relief for going to the office

AFAIAA the IR would treat that as 2 permanent workplaces and travel to the office wouldn't be eligible for tax relief. If you were to work from home full time and visits to the office weren't regular then you'd be able to claim for that travel, as long as the IR accepted your office as a solely temporary workplace.

But it's a complicated area and I'm not a tax expert.

As others have suggested for a co of that size, buy it, plant and machinery. Use it for travelling to and from client sites.

The post above about servicing is a good one. Had not thought about that. Makes sense that you want to keep company plant and machinery in good condition.

Is there a minimum distance for a commute to work ?
Does 25 metres count ?
Asking for a friend of course 😉

Given most people I know who work through Ltd co’s do it to save paying huge amounts of tax, I’m sure there must be a simple enough way to fudge a bike to work as well

Can’t you just claim it as an expense or something?