Employees can now take advantage of a tax exemption that allows employers to provide cycles to employees as a tax-free benefit. A number of companies administer these schemes of which Cyclescheme.co.uk is the most widely used. It operates through independent cycle retailers like us but before you jump in and think you can save yourself $$$, first of all your company must be a registered Employer and you must be in permanent employment, over 18 and earning above the minimum wage

The amount you can save varies based on your personal circumstances and how much you want to spend. Cyclescheme offer a calculator on their website to help you work out what you could potentially save, assuming you and your employer satisfy the above criteria. Be aware though, you leave your job and you must either give the bike back or pay the outstanding debt and there is a limit on what you can spend.

Getting your Bike

So your Employer is signed up to the scheme and you now want a bike, what do you do next?

To keep it simple, the basic steps are outlined below. If you have any specific questions, you need to speak to your Employer about payment and authorisation of your purchase or drop in or call us if its about the bike itself.

1. Choose your bike

2. We give you an official Cyclescheme quotation

3. You go to the Cyclescheme website (link supplied by your employer) and enter the quote

4. Your Employer authorises your request (online)

5. Your Employer pays Cyclescheme

6. Cyclescheme sends a secure voucher to you in the post

7. You redeem the Voucher with us and take your bike home

8. We redeem the Voucher and get paid

We have a range of bikes available which will allow you to take full advantage of the scheme.
Drop in or call us NOW Tel. 01564 701860

Market Value - HMRC Guidelines

The HMRC have recently revised final-value payments on the scheme which allow the employee to take full ownership of the bike at the end of the agreement.

Cyclescheme’s market value process, based on HMRC guidance, ensures that employee’s savings are protected.

Below is a copy of a flyer detailing the process that will be available in January

The Process

At the end of the hire period ownership of the equipment passes to Cyclescheme, who then contact employees detailing 3 options:

1. Under a separate agreement with Cyclescheme, pay a small refundable deposit (3% or 7% of the certificate value*) and continue to use the bicycle for 3 years.  The monthly payments are zero. At the end of this period, Cyclescheme refund the deposit if the employee does not wish to keep the bicycle. No further action or payment is required if they wish to keep the bicycle.
2. Take ownership of the bicycle by paying Cyclescheme a much higher valuation (e.g., for a one year old bicycle this would be 18% or 25%* of the certificate value in accordance with HMRC requirements).
3. Return the bicycle to Cyclescheme

Cyclescheme’s recommended option, to ensure savings are in line with previous expectations, is for employees to select option 1. Employees can participate in another scheme during this period, as the agreement is between Cyclescheme and the employee - the employer does nothing more.

Please see a simple process flowchart at: http://emails.cyclescheme.co.uk/files/hmrc/maximiseyoursavings.pdf