C2W Scheme - Proof of 50% worth of commuting??

[NotthatJasonKenny]

Hi all,

Smokey was asking for me as I don't visit here so often these days. No one has yet said we need to prove our usage, I'm only getting this from the guidelines.

I'm the branch manager so if anyone is asked to police usage it would be me filling in the forms but because of my position I wouldn't want to be proved a fibber for the sake of a few hundred quid!

If all the above is true then it sounds a winner, higher rate taxpayers seem to win a but more though.

I don't claim mileage as my company car is mostly private use so there isn't any damaging evidence against that but as I mainly ride twice a month these days it would mean going to work twice a month (2 rides there and two rides home) to genuinely qualify as more than 50%.

I'm up for that as a way of doing my bit for my health and the planet!

Still not sure which bike? Not going over the £1k Mark and fancied the cube peloton but had Planet X recommended...any others?

 

[KneesUp]

No. I commute 20+ miles by bike 5 days a week, which is probably more than 99% of other C2W users, many of whom never bother to ride to work at all.

It's a government system, which I'm making use of for Child Benefit purposes, since it reduces my overall income.

And the bikes do get used; my first one my wife uses and the second is an MTB that I use in the winter. Straight after I got my first C2W bike I won a road bike from Sustrans - and used that for commuting instead.

So you are using a system to buy a commuting bike at a reduced price - paid for my taxpayers - so that you can

a) buy bikes you don't commute on - or need, presumably, since you have several
b) reduce your take home pay in order to get more child benefit

I can see that winning a bike just after you've bought one might mean you don't use it as much, but it doesn't explain the need for the next one.

It sounds like blatant abuse of the system to me - you're not using the subsidised bikes as intended, and you're buying more bikes to boost your child benefit.

 

[DCLane]

@KneesUp - you might think that, but I'm going to be using the current C2W MTB over 2 winters whilst it's in the 18-month C2W period. It'll be used then.

Just because I don't use it in the summer should I not sign for a C2W bike? Seriously?

And yes, it's to reduce take home pay. That's the government's taxation rules. I pay my taxes and, like most people, will use methods to reduce them. Have you an ISA? Do you claim for professional memberships, etc? Isn't that the same as you're doing that to reduce your overall level of taxation? It's not "blatant abuse" at all.

 

[fossyant]

Without reading the thread, he has a company car already. The IR are not thick.
It's a crap scheme anyway, and I was in at the front end, but lost loads as I did business miles I could not claim. Best bet is interest free from bike shop.

 

[fossyant]

Hi all,

Smokey was asking for me as I don't visit here so often these days. No one has yet said we need to prove our usage, I'm only getting this from the guidelines.

I'm the branch manager so if anyone is asked to police usage it would be me filling in the forms but because of my position I wouldn't want to be proved a fibber for the sake of a few hundred quid!

If all the above is true then it sounds a winner, higher rate taxpayers seem to win a but more though.

I don't claim mileage as my company car is mostly private use so there isn't any damaging evidence against that but as I mainly ride twice a month these days it would mean going to work twice a month (2 rides there and two rides home) to genuinely qualify as more than 50%.

I'm up for that as a way of doing my bit for my health and the planet!

Still not sure which bike? Not going over the £1k Mark and fancied the cube peloton but had Planet X recommended...any others?

All I will say, the scheme is massively abused. Yours seems OK compared to folk I know have done it. For me it's been my 100% commuter for 6 years....

 

[KneesUp]

@KneesUp - you might think that, but I'm going to be using the current C2W MTB over 2 winters whilst it's in the 18-month C2W period. It'll be used then.

Just because I don't use it in the summer should I not sign for a C2W bike? Seriously?

And yes, it's to reduce take home pay. That's the government's taxation rules. I pay my taxes and, like most people, will use methods to reduce them. Have you an ISA? Do you claim for professional memberships, etc? Isn't that the same as you're doing that to reduce your overall level of taxation? It's not "blatant abuse" at all.

I don't have an ISA or claim for any professional memberships, no. If I had, would that make your imaginative interpretation of the C2W scheme more valid?

I don't think the scheme was designed for people to buy new bikes over and over again - particularly ones they don't use, or are unsuitable for year-round commuting - in order to get more money from the government in benefits - although I accept that it's not a well designed scheme. That's not the spirit of it at all.

 

[NotthatJasonKenny]

I won't abuse it but I can't ride 15 days out of 30 but I can stick to the more than 50% rule.

I have a company car yes but I ride my motorbike sometime also and as I don't claim business mileage for more than two or three journeys per month and intend to do some commuting I think I can have a clear conscious.

As to people lowering take home pay to get benefits, one has to know the whole story, so many people are paid less than they are worth, nurses, firemen, some policemen (except traffic cops...) and so many people are paid more than they are worth (me sometimes...) so it isn't an easy judgement to comment on.

 

[KneesUp]

I won't abuse it but I can't ride 15 days out of 30 but I can stick to the more than 50% rule.

I have a company car yes but I ride my motorbike sometime also and as I don't claim business mileage for more than two or three journeys per month and intend to do some commuting I think I can have a clear conscious.

As to people lowering take home pay to get benefits, one has to know the whole story, so many people are paid less than they are worth, nurses, firemen, some policemen (except traffic cops...) and so many people are paid more than they are worth (me sometimes...) so it isn't an easy judgement to comment on.

If someone is buying a new (and presumably expensive) bike every year, I'm guessing they aren't exactly on the bread line ...

 

[NotthatJasonKenny]

Maybe not but without the full facts I'm not making a judgement as I can think of loads of examples where people find a way of making terrible lives bearable.

Not saying that is or isn't the case but still.

And this is why I don't visit often! Lol!

 

[DCLane]

If someone is buying a new (and presumably expensive) bike every year, I'm guessing they aren't exactly on the bread line ...

That depends; I don't drink alcohol, don't smoke and don't buy expensive designer stuff. My car isn't used much so the only real spending I have is on bikes/ cycle kit. My C2W bikes haven't been 'expensive' - £500 and £850 fyi - so not at the £1000 C2W limit.

The amount I earn / don't earn is irrelevant here. Also, just because you don't agree with people replacing their C2W bike doesn't mean they can't; my commuting miles has killed a couple of bikes entirely as they've been bought for £50-100 and used frequently in all weathers. I'm sure many commuters buy their bike on C2W and use it in the knowledge that they can replace it in a year/18 months.

If you wish to challenge government policy, be my guest - but Society, Culture and Politics is this way.

 

[KneesUp]

If you wish to challenge government policy, be my guest - but Society, Culture and Politics is this way.

I was challenging your admission of using the Cycle to Work Scheme to buy bikes which you do not use to cycle to work.

 

[DCLane]

I was challenging your admission of using the Cycle to Work Scheme to buy bikes which you do not use to cycle to work.

OK - 1 not used as I won a bike almost straight after, the other used in winter only.

To me, and probably most others, that's not an issue. At least I'm riding to work; see my signature.

 

[KneesUp]

OK - 1 not used as I won a bike almost straight after, the other used in winter only.

To me, and probably most others, that's not an issue. At least I'm riding to work; see my signature.

And what about the one you use "once a month" is that a third one?

 

[DCLane]

And what about the one you use "once a month" is that a third one?

Nope. 2 only; that's the MTB, which gets used in winter as well. I'm not made of money

And yes, at the end of the current 18-month C2W there'll be another one. This'll probably be a road bike or 'cross bike - for commuting this time.

 

[KneesUp]

Nope. 2 only; that's the MTB, which gets used in winter as well. I'm not made of money

And yes, at the end of the current 18-month C2W there'll be another one. This'll probably be a road bike or 'cross bike - for commuting this time.

Three new bikes in 4.5 years, all to keep the tax credits up. Go you. Well done.