Tax incentive to cycle to work!

skelliser

Cycle to work scheme

From 1 January 2009, the provision of bicycles and associated safety equipment by employers to employees who agree to use the bicycles to cycle to work will be treated as a tax exempt benefit-in-kind. The exemption may only apply once in any five year period in respect of any employee. There will be a limit on the value of such purchases of €1,000 for each employee. The scheme may also be implemented via salary sacrifice arrangements, whereby an employee agrees to forego part of his/her salary to cover the costs associated with the purchase of the bicycle and associated safety equipment. Where such salary sacrifice arrangements are implemented, they must be completed over a maximum period of twelve months.

http://www.budget.gov.ie/2009/budgetsummary09.html


I can see it now, the M50 looking like the peleton in the tour de france each morning!

i guess we have the greens to thank for this one!
well done gormface, first the lightbulbs now this rubbish...:rolleyes:

DarkJager

Will this green nonsense ever end?

MagicMarker

You know, this isn't actually that bad. But how in gods name are they planning on making sure they cycle to work?

rubadub

Its just copying what loads of other countries have done TBH, nothing new. The UK have a similar thing, I think somewhere like belgium give other tax breaks to cycling commuters.

Faster to cycle in dublin anyway these days. When it rains people are always asking me "bet you wish you had a car now!", no way! the rain makes traffic even worse since it seems every little runt now gets driven to school by mammy when it rains, traffic is a joke.

topper75

skelliser wrote: »

I can see it now, the M50 looking like the peleton in the tour de france each morning!

Ah - no... no it won't. The clue is the 'M' letter.

phasers

I get the f*cking bus every day

give me a medal Mr. Gormley, you free lovin' hippy

RasTa

This is pretty big in England. London mainly. Might get the many Irish fattys off their fat ugly asses.

445279.ie

and because of the ridiculous house prices I live 25 miles from work, therefore don't think I'll be cycling :eek:

MagicMarker

How exactly will this work? Basically you can buy a bike through your employer tax free so long as you don't exceed 1000 euro? Is this for any employee? Or do you have to be permanent full time etc?

Wertz

A grand for a f*cking bike? WTF? What planet do these nincompoops inhabit?

This is superdy dooper for anyone living within an urban area or with a short trip to work...so what about the other 60% of us?

skelliser

topper75 wrote: »

Ah - no... no it won't. The clue is the 'M' letter.

your right! its illegal to cycle on the M50 or any motorway,so even if commuters wanted to they couldnt.
The M50 is full everyday cause people are forced to commute huge distances from home to work, thanks to FF/Developers. In a good majority of cases an hour or more, do they expect them to cycle!
plus you cant combine cycling with public transport, your not allowed to bring your bike on trains/dart/luas/buses. I remember you used to be able to bring your bikes on trains but not anymore.
once again no thought has gone into this.

Lockstep

In Belgium they had a system where you handed in your car licence and got a bike, train and metro pass. Or something along those lines.

Run_to_da_hills

DarkJager wrote: »

Will this green nonsense ever end?

+1

Kinetic^

W00T! Awesome move!!!

Lockstep

I just bought my bike yesterday, an hours walk=20mins bus=half an hours cycle. Great fun and makes my legs hurt to boot.

+1 to Rubadub.

The smirk on my face as I whizz by all the glum people caught in traffic.

Nehaxak

Would mean an awful lot more if there were more cycle lanes which were policed better (they're not policed at all at the moment). No buses allowed drive in the cycle lane and more cycle lanes on the Northside of Dublin into town (fking Southside gets everything!).

Would also be better for all cyclists if it wasn't constantly pissing rain in this country.

Besides, this is what you get for voting in those commie green party muppets !

Fuzzy_Dunlop

Think this is a great idea myself. Really can't understand why more people don't cycle(obviously within reason, depending on how far they have to travel and such) . But you avoid traffic big time and will get places far quicker at rush hour, dont have to worry about parking, get daily exercise, and save a **** load of money to boot.

[edit]- i do agree on the cycle lanes too, they really should be improved if they're to make this push worthwhile

RasTa

Anyone who lives 10k's from work should be made to cycle!.

Smellyirishman

playa3 wrote: »

Really can't understand why more people don't cycle(obviously within reason, depending on how far they have to travel and such) .

For me it's the lack of shower facilities.

Can people that have a problem with this explain why? I'm genuinely interested.

MagicMarker

Smellyirishman wrote: »

For me it's the lack of shower facilities.

Can people that have a problem with this explain why? I'm genuinely interested.

Like wise, i think it's a great idea, especially the fact you can pay it over the course of a year.

Wertz

Seriously though, why do they need to incentive-ise this? Anyone that is fit and able, and that lives within reach of their place of work by bike is most likely already using their bike (that they probably didn't pay €1000 for) for the journey...given the cost of fueling/parking a car and the state of traffic in our larger towns and cities the incentives are already there, the only real deterrent is wet/windy weather and dark evenings (no amount of money is going to make you cycle in sh*tty conditions like that) and perhaps a lack of proper cycle paths.
As someone who cycled to work on and off for about a decade, I miss it; a few Km in the morning and the same in the evening, great excercise and good for the mind too. Unfortunately cycling a 70km round trip daily just isn't going to happen...I'll take the grand's worth of bike and stick it in the boot though...

skelliser

its a good idea for those few who live really close to work, i was thinkin of the majority who dont

Peteee

I thought the tax incentive for cycling was the hike in petrol and Road Tax! :pac:

\o/

AnonoBoy

I get the LUAS.

Where's my money/tax incentive?

Gran Hermano

I fancy a new mountain bike for the odd spin once a month around Wicklow
but I'll still use the old SUV for commuting to work- too comfy listening to the radio and
I always found it a pain cycling in the rain.

Does this mean I can get my company to pay for a new bike for me even if
it's just for the odd spot of recreational use? How would they know whether
I'm using the bike or not daily?

giggsy664

Smellyirishman wrote: »

For me it's the lack of shower facilities.

Can people that have a problem with this explain why? I'm genuinely interested.

With a name like that, you have a right cause to be complaining about the lack of showers

Lockstep

I love cycling in the rain.

Yesterday going home was grand when it was dry.

Today was even better, as it was p!ssing down and all the parents were out picking up their kids in the SUV. I'll gladly take a bit of rain in exchange for missing out on the traffic.

MagicMarker

Gran Hermano wrote: »

Does this mean I can get my company to pay for a new bike for me

Considering the bike isn't free, it's highly unlikely, but i guess you can always ask them.

Insect Overlord

I cycle to and from college at least twice a week (living about 3 miles away from door-to-door). If it weren't for gear-bags and other such paraphernalia I'd do it every day.

Most of the people who know I cycle are really starting to respect me for it (obviously for braving the weather, not for the environmental stuff...)

oztots

An Fhile wrote: »

I cycle to and from college at least twice a week (living about 3 miles away from door-to-door). If it weren't for gear-bags and other such paraphernalia I'd do it every day.

Most of the people who know I cycle are really starting to respect me for it (obviously for braving the weather, not for the environmental stuff...)

3 miles? a whole 10 mins on a bike! wow.

Living in europe has really shown me how retarded the irish transport system is. Where i work now half the people cycle then the rest are split evenly between buses and cars.

Still though, Free Bikes for All!

Insect Overlord

oztots wrote: »

3 miles? a whole 10 mins on a bike! wow.

Living in europe has really shown me how retarded the irish transport system is. Where i work now half the people cycle then the rest are split evenly between buses and cars.

Still though, Free Bikes for All!

17 minutes tbh...

BaconZombie

AA Route planner says Total Distance (Km): 20km, so I don't think I'll be cycling to work any time soon.

oztots

An Fhile wrote: »

17 minutes tbh...

FASTER!!

Wurly

I drive to work once a week as I go to rehearsal afterwards and finish late.

So how much do I pay? As much as someone who drives 5 days a week?

I'd cycle... but.... has anyone ever cycled through Ranelagh (Dublin) on a busy morning? You'd be lucky to get out alive. Cars and buses all over the place.

If there were adequate cycle lanes, i'd consider it.

I agree with green taxes if they were actually spent on the environment.

But to introduce this with a fcuking ridiculous public transport system is, well, just ridiculous!

robinph

Sounds like a great idea to me. It's not actually going to cost a whole lot but if i can get the tax back on a new bike it would be a nice discount for me. I wouldn't be using it for commuting though as I'm already riding into work on two wheels, but with an engine attached.

If it just gets a few more people out being a bit more active though then it's a good thing. Also it really does not rain that much over the year during the daily commute as people seem to think, but then if your sat in a car for three time as long as someone is on their bike then I guess you may be a bit more likely to see some rain during your travels.

Overheal

DCC160 wrote: »

and because of the ridiculous house prices I live 25 miles from work, therefore don't think I'll be cycling :eek:

driving along the M50 I always wondered wouldnt it be cool if there were elevators every other mile that took you up to the top of a slope and you could just coast your bike all the way through. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee......... whoops ice on the road *splat*

Dord

I've was actually thinking about starting to cycle to work just recently. I'm about 11km's away from where I work with pretty good cycle lanes along most of the way.

I might try it out soon to see how I get on. The money wouldnt persuade me to do it alone, but it'd make things better.

It's a bit much though tbh... It doesn't cost €1000 for a bike & gear to get you from A to B!

kickoutthejams

kickoutthejams wrote: »

In Belgium they had a system where you handed in your car licence and got a bike, train and metro pass. Or something along those lines.

Yes! Get more than 12 points on your licence, you get a bike!

Húrin

DarkJager wrote: »

Will this green nonsense ever end?

How is it nonsense? You think the current system is good?

Wertz wrote: »

A grand for a f*cking bike? WTF? What planet do these nincompoops inhabit?

This is superdy dooper for anyone living within an urban area or with a short trip to work...so what about the other 60% of us?

www.workinmeath.com

considering all the people driving around in €50,000 plus cars, what's so mad about spending a grand on a quality bike?

lost marbles

now where would you be without a bell on your bike and your knickers ringing

javaboy

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I get the LUAS.

Where's my money/tax incentive?

Here you go. Sorry about the presentation. I couldn't find a silver platter at short notice.

LoadzaJobs.ie wrote:

However, to encourage more use of public transport, tax relief is available to people who travel to work on Dublin Bus, Luas or Iarnrd Eireann. Also, where employees receive annual or monthly bus or train tickets either as part of their salary in lieu of an annual cash bonus or as a benefit in kind, the tickets are not subject to tax or PRSI. Employees can in some cases save up to 48pc on travel costs while employers can achieve PRSI savings of up to 10.75pc.

robinph

An Fhile wrote: »

17 minutes tbh...

You must be really slow at cycling, I'd have the 3km covered on foot in that time. Anyway, you'd soon be getting the distance covered quicker once you started doing it and get a bit fitter. Then you realise that you saving yourself money and time and that it really doesn't rain that much and will wonder what you were ever doing in a car.

Dord wrote: »

It's a bit much though tbh... It doesn't cost 1000 for a bike & gear to get you from A to B!

It's only 215 that you'll be getting really though, just that 1000 sounds like a better number for the headlines.

One Cold Hand

He said 3 miles, to be fair.

But it's still pretty slow.

flickerx

BOFH_139 wrote: »

AA Route planner says Total Distance (Km): 20km, so I don't think I'll be cycling to work any time soon.

20km is doable in about one hour if the road is flat, with not too much effort.
you build up a bit of stamina, get clipless pedals, you can do it faster - or at the same pace and not be sweaty arriving into work.
i used to do blanch to clonskeagh every day. and back. just over an hour each way.

flickerx

Húrin wrote: »

considering all the people driving around in €50,000 plus cars, what's so mad about spending a grand on a quality bike?

in total agreement with you.
and you never have to pay insurance or petrol, or anywhere near the same repair costs if there's a problem. a grand for your primary method of commuting transport, which if cleaned and oiled will last you years, is excellent value.

mikemac

flickerx wrote: »

i used to do blanch to clonskeagh every day. and back. just over an hour each way.

That's a long commute to cycle imo, fair play :cool:

c - 13

As others have said its all well and good for those living in cities but not a lot of good for those who aren't.

When I was living in Ireland I lived about 70 KM (round trip) from where I worked and the roads were bad. Chances are high that if you tried to cycle it you'd be cleaned out of it by a truck.

If I had lived nearer my job and the roads were a bit better I would definitely have cycled.

Once again the government seems to forget that there are people who actually live outside Dublin

pickarooney

Would youse ever stop whingeing? Even if this incentive won't affect you directly due to your distance from home, it's not like you're losing out on anything. Besides, if more people do start cycling it'll clear up the roads for you to drive to work. Win/win.

Cianos

pickarooney wrote: »

Would youse ever stop whingeing? Even if this incentive won't affect you directly due to your distance from home, it's not like you're losing out on anything. Besides, if more people do start cycling it'll clear up the roads for you to drive to work. Win/win.

Agreed. What is there to moan about? The incentive is there to get those who could cycle but don't out of their cars. More cyclists equals less traffic, a healthier population, less traffic and less pollution. So everyone benefits really.

_feedback_

pickarooney wrote: »

Would youse ever stop whingeing? Even if this incentive won't affect you directly due to your distance from home, it's not like you're losing out on anything. Besides, if more people do start cycling it'll clear up the roads for you to drive to work. Win/win.

What are you on about? Of course those of us that are forced to drive are losing out...

I commute a 80km round trip every day. I HAVE to drive, there is no public transport to get me there on time. They have now also cut back on spending for transport. WTF?

Cianos wrote: »

Agreed. What is there to moan about? The incentive is there to get those who could cycle but don't out of their cars. More cyclists equals less traffic, a healthier population, less traffic and less pollution. So everyone benefits really.

It wont reduce traffic on the road I travel every day. Because it's a pile of shi*e road. It's too dangerous for cyclists.