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

[glasgowcyclist]

Ha, love it! So technically for a while, I was commuting everyday (72 miles in six days) but doing a couple of 40 milers on two out of four of my rest days (80 miles) and thus breaking the rules =0 I never knew...

What about if I commute an extended distance in - I. E. 20 miles instead of 6? Is that a commute or leisure, or both!

Bloody hell, can open, worms everywhere I tell you. Glad my scheme finished without issue ages ago!

You weren't breaking any rules, it's not the distance travelled that counts it's the number of qualifying journeys as a percentage of the total number of journeys.


GC

 

[KneesUp]

I'm assuming that was for comic effect and not because you actually misunderstood that badly ...

It works as SG describes, so after five years HMRC says it is worth nothing.

It was a genuine mistake - I've learned something. I didn't know you could straight-line depreciate a bike - I've not looked in to it because there is no way I can qualify for any sort of tax-benefit for buying one, so I didn't look any further. (And yes, I do commute by bike)

 

[Paul99]

It was a genuine mistake - I've learned something. I didn't know you could straight-line depreciate a bike - I've not looked in to it because there is no way I can qualify for any sort of tax-benefit for buying one, so I didn't look any further. (And yes, I do commute by bike)

Do you do any paperwork etc at home? = Workplace 1
Do you work at your shop? = Workplace 2
Do you need transport between the two places when your private car is not available? Yes?

I can't see any reason that the business could not buy a bike for business use.

 

[winjim]

OK, this'll raise some hackles...

I have heard of someone who buys bikes on C2W, never rides them, and then after a year sells them on in mint condition!

 

[PK99]

OK, this'll raise some hackles...

I have heard of someone who buys bikes on C2W, never rides them, and then after a year sells them on in mint condition!

we have been discussing Avoidance - what you describe is Evasion pure and simple - shop him to the tax fraud hot line?

 

[glenn forger]

OK, this'll raise some hackles...

I have heard of someone who buys bikes on C2W, never rides them, and then after a year sells them on in mint condition!

Get us a Dawes Super Galaxy?

 

[.stu]

@DCLane you are Jimmy Carr and I claim my five pounds

 

[Peteaud]

OK, this'll raise some hackles...

I have heard of someone who buys bikes on C2W, never rides them, and then after a year sells them on in mint condition!

The company i work for have the C2W scheme and i could have easily bought a bike (up to £1111.00), had it delivered and sold it still boxed. If i leave then the amount owed is deducted from final pay.

 

[winjim]

we have been discussing Avoidance - what you describe is Evasion pure and simple - shop him to the tax fraud hot line?

1. I don't know the identity of the person involved.
2. I don't even know if the story is true.
3. I am not a grass.

I'm not even sure if it is tax evasion. I tried working out what proportion of journeys were commutes and it turned out to be infinite .

 

[vickster]

Does he actually make any money that way as bikes lose value even if not used, not least as a year on shops reduce them, unless he seeks out bargains and can use C2W to get them. Seems like a way to block up the garage for a year

 

[Crankarm]

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?

I get really f****d off with many people, possibly you as well, attempting to and succeeding in abusing this scheme. The whole point of C2W is that you ACTUALLY ride the bike that you buy on the scheme to and from work. It was not intended to be a scheme to buy a nice bike you like the look of just because you can get it a lot cheaper through tax deduction, with no intention of riding it to or from work or perhaps only on a very occasional basis and then quite a few weekend rides of 50 miles where you are not commuting. To me this is fraud plain and simple. It is the likes of me who do commute everyday to work on my bike and whose employer does not offer this scheme that end up paying for this deception. If any one at the HMRC had a half a brain they would put a quick stop to this flagrant deception. The wording of the guidance needs tightening up considerably as people are just taking the p155.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Who would administer it? How could you check all but the most blatant fraud? Where does the money come to do it all, you realise managing it tightly would almost definitely cost more than the money 'lost' and that ignores the fact that there is a secondary benefit to anyone riding a bike wherever they are going.

What would you do with my Synapse? I bought it because I decided I wanted a sporty bike as well as the Hybrid come the summer and specifically to do the Ride London. But as commuting is also training it's probably done more commuting miles than leisure ones and definitely more commuting trips than leisure ones. For the rest of the year if I commute one day a week for any weekend leisure ride I'm still on 66% commuting trips...

 

[Flying Dodo]

In 2004 HMRC had a similar "employer buy a computer and let an employee use it at home" scheme, which gave tax free use of a computer. That was quickly stopped after a couple of years, partly due to the widespread use of cheap computers generally, but also due to them realising it was being abused.

So the more people brag about abusing the bike scheme and buying bikes which they don't use for commuting at all, then it's bound to be stopped completely.

 

[harly]

never used the c2w scheme.. so just how much do you save from a 1000 bike over the 18 month

 

[w00hoo_kent]

There is already the break point in values with expensive bikes becoming less of a bargain. If they stop the scheme it'd be fairly easy to replicate a similar 'deal' with 0% credit cards and a hard bargained shop deal on a bike. Would just take a bit more thought. People are already doing things that way.