half price bikes... biketowork.ie

bacon?

i was in a bike shop the other day, and just noticed this scheme the government are doing... www.biketowork.ie

if you're on the high tax band... you can get a 1000k bike, half price, and pay it off each month... i thought this was pretty cool.

i wouldn't mind actually cycling into work... 8 mile journey, but on a decent bike, i could do it in around an hour

Keith C

yep my company is already signed up to it, got email from hr very good scheme, dont think they can check up if you cycle everyday so cheap bike even if you drive to work.


** looks around for green pc brigade **

bacon?

i'm not a big eco warrier, but it would be great to see more bikes and less cars on the roads.

do you mind me asking what bike you went for, i'm looking at the sanfransico 2...

mikemac

Keith C wrote: »

yep my company is already signed up to it, got email from hr very good scheme, dont think they can check up if you cycle everyday so cheap bike even if you drive to work.


** looks around for green pc brigade **

Well you can drive but you won't be getting a company parking space every again.

dennistuam

can i apply for a bike if i am self employed

Davy

dennistuam wrote: »

can i apply for a bike if i am self employed

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=59079931

Alfagtamini

i availed of this from my employer, but ive gone for an electric bike. ( i have a long 7 mile cycle to work). i got my electric bike from a crowd in limerick goeco.ie found them after a google search for the cycle to work scheme they have two sites www.cycletowork.ie and www.goeco.ie .there a great bunch of lads and they even looked after all the relevant invoices etc. bike was delivered to me the next day. wouldn't fit in my boot :-). Ive cycled to work now for 2 days( got it on Wednesday) now im considering selling the second car. the girlfriends one of course:D.
oh btw i got the rg6 bike 899e plus an extra battery and accessories to bring it up to the 1000e.

Bill-e

Good stuff! Thx op.
Will try and get my company into this.
Finally something cheaper for the higher tax payers.

RasTa

bacon? wrote: »

i was in a bike shop the other day, and just noticed this scheme the government are doing... www.biketowork.ie

if you're on the high tax band... you can get a 1000k bike, half price, and pay it off each month... i thought this was pretty cool.

i wouldn't mind actually cycling into work... 8 mile journey, but on a decent bike, i could do it in around an hour

An hour???? That would take ye 20mins

loyatemu

RasTa wrote: »

An hour???? That would take ye 20mins

8 miles, 20 mins? thats 24mph average - you'd be lucky to do half that cycling through the city - bear in mind you've still got to stop at junctions, lights, negotiate traffic etc.

kona

Its not half price at all, it depends on you tax band, so its basically just extra tax credits. so you save either 20% or 42% depending on your income.
You should probably change the title.

8 miles would take maybe 30mins:)

godtabh

bacon? wrote: »

i was in a bike shop the other day, and just noticed this scheme the government are doing... www.biketowork.ie

if you're on the high tax band... you can get a 1000k bike, half price, and pay it off each month... i thought this was pretty cool.

i wouldn't mind actually cycling into work... 8 mile journey, but on a decent bike, i could do it in around an hour

Any links to actual bikes?

the groutch

kona wrote: »

8 miles would take maybe 30mins:)

depends on your route imo, used to cycle from cabinteely to stephens green in about 1/2 hour, but the way back is almost all uphill from ucd and took 45ish

strettie

One thing that is not mentioned on ww.biketowork.ie employers faqs is the following which is very important condition for any company planning to operate this scheme

Qualifying journeys
The bicycle must be used by the employee mainly for qualifying journeys. This means the whole or part (e.g. between home and train station) of a journey between the employee’s or director’s home and normal place of work, or between his or her normal place of work and another place of work. While an employer will not be required to monitor the use of the bicycle/safety equipment, the employer will be required to obtain a signed statement from the employee or director that the bicycle is for his or her own use and will be used mainly for qualifying journeys

bacon?

loyatemu wrote: »

8 miles, 20 mins? thats 24mph average - you'd be lucky to do half that cycling through the city - bear in mind you've still got to stop at junctions, lights, negotiate traffic etc.

sure thing Sean Kelly

bacon?

the groutch wrote: »

depends on your route imo, used to cycle from cabinteely to stephens green in about 1/2 hour, but the way back is almost all uphill from ucd and took 45ish

not to mention wind, not a cycling expert, but i'd asume today (v windy) would be a beeeeeeeeeatch

loyatemu

kona wrote: »

Its not half price at all, it depends on you tax band, so its basically just extra tax credits. so you save either 20% or 42% depending on your income.

afaik it operates like the taxsaver ticket scheme so the cost is exempt from all tax, prsi and levies. Someone on the top rate will (from this month) be paying 41% tax, 4% PRSI, 4% health levy and 2% income levy which is 51% in total, so its actually better than half price in this case.

bazwaldo

bacon? wrote: »

not to mention wind, not a cycling expert, but i'd asume today (v windy) would be a beeeeeeeeeatch

And for some reason when cycling, the wind is always against you

kearnsr

kearnsr wrote: »

Any links to actual bikes?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/
http://www.slanecycles.com/
http://www.probikekit.com/
http://www.evanscycles.com/
http://www.worldwidecycles.com/
... and any local bike shop.

bacon? wrote: »

not to mention wind, not a cycling expert, but i'd asume today (v windy) would be a beeeeeeeeeatch

Nah it's grand out there today.

kona

loyatemu wrote: »

afaik it operates like the taxsaver ticket scheme so the cost is exempt from all tax, prsi and levies. Someone on the top rate will (from this month) be paying 41% tax, 4% PRSI, 4% health levy and 2% income levy which is 51% in total, so its actually better than half price in this case.

AFAIK its 20% or 41%, Its basically a extra tax credit, The levies are not included as tax credits dont come into play with these, I work in a bike shop and thats what the literature says. Having said that the shop could be wrong.

As for the moaning about wind, grow a pair of balls! if your female, i dunno what you should grow!

TM

kona wrote: »

AFAIK its 20% or 41%, Its basically a extra tax credit, The levies are not included as tax credits dont come into play with these, I work in a bike shop and thats what the literature says. Having said that the shop could be wrong.

You save PRSI too as explained on the website mentioned in the original post. I doubt that you avoid the income levies.

the groutch

yep, and the employers save on PRSI, so they save about 12%

loyatemu

from http://bikescheme.ie/frequently-asked-questions

Q. How does the salary sacrifice operate?

A. Under a salary sacrifice arrangement, you agree to forego or sacrifice part of your salary every pay period (weekly/fortnightly/monthly as the case may be), in order to cover the cost of the bike and equipment provided by your employer. The amount of salary you sacrifice will be exempt from tax, employee’s PRSI and levies. It will also be exempt from your employer’s PRSI. The salary sacrifice arrangement must be completed within a maximum period of twelve months.

so including all PAYE, PRSI and levies a top rate taxpayer saves 51% of the cost of the bike.

Del2005

paulryanmini wrote: »

i availed of this from my employer, but ive gone for an electric bike. ( i have a long 7 mile cycle to work). i got my electric bike from a crowd in limerick goeco.ie found them after a google search for the cycle to work scheme they have two sites www.cycletowork.ie and www.goeco.ie .there a great bunch of lads and they even looked after all the relevant invoices etc. bike was delivered to me the next day. wouldn't fit in my boot :-). Ive cycled to work now for 2 days( got it on Wednesday) now im considering selling the second car. the girlfriends one of course:D.
oh btw i got the rg6 bike 899e plus an extra battery and accessories to bring it up to the 1000e.

Are you sure that that bike is legal? On the goeco.ie site the specs for the bike have it able to run without pedal assist. That makes it a PTW and needs tax, insurance and helmet.

Glide3: Pedal Only, Pedal assisted system and Full throttle

denat

Del2005 wrote: »

Are you sure that that bike is legal? On the goeco.ie site the specs for the bike have it able to run without pedal assist. That makes it a PTW and needs tax, insurance and helmet.

This comment confirms the importance of leaving this country ASAP for anyone in a position to do so.

Alfagtamini

Del2005 wrote: »

Are you sure that that bike is legal? On the goeco.ie site the specs for the bike have it able to run without pedal assist. That makes it a PTW and needs tax, insurance and helmet.

hi
on my bike i had 2 choices. have the throttle disabled. or have it wired up so it only works with pedal assist. the lads at goeco know there stuff and my bike even has a sticker on the frame saying to "in keep with eu the throttle on this bike is for off road use only"

its like cycling downhill all the time. its a great bike.

Del2005

paulryanmini wrote: »

hi
on my bike i had 2 choices. have the throttle disabled. or have it wired up so it only works with pedal assist. the lads at goeco know there stuff and my bike even has a sticker on the frame saying to "in keep with eu the throttle on this bike is for off road use only"

its like cycling downhill all the time. its a great bike.

Not meaning to be pedantic, but putting a sticker on something to say you won't use it on the road doesn't make it road legal. Once it can be driven without pedal assist it's a PTW, the shop is selling you something they'll say whatever they can to get you too buy it.

Ireland has different laws to the EU. In most EU states go-peds are legal, e-bikes can be ridden without pedal assist and you can ride a moped with no licence. You can't do any of that here. If you're cruising up a hill past a squad car with no pedals turning, you can and should be done for riding with no licence, tax or insurance. If you where unlucky enough to hit someone you could be in big trouble.

Get back onto the shop and make sure that the bike can only ridden with pedal assist as a sticker isn't going to impress a judge.

Traumadoc

Ironically the HSE are not partaking in the scheme.