Golly, there'll be a lot of schemes "stealing from the taxman" then.stoofer said:I don't think they should be reclaiming the full amount including VAT from the employee, the only saving the employer makes is from the NI reduction. If your employer is getting the VAT from the purchase of a bike from the employee then this is essentially stealing from the taxman.
If you read the regulations, rather than basing your ideas on the rules of one or two schemes or stuff you have read on the 'net (you get some very dodgy advice on sites like this, after all, I'm on here! ) you'll see that the employer can reclaim the input tax on the purchase of the bike without having to pass on the reduction to the employee. It's down to the employer whether they do pass on the saving.
In a case like this, where the employer is already unkeen to even start the policy, leaving the employer to have the savings from the VAT and the E'ers NI means that the savings are split roughly equally between the employer and employee. If the employer passes on the savings, they "make" around 17% from the purchase and the employee could save over 50%, which is a little one-sided, IMO.
YMMV.