Cycle to Work is a government-supported scheme which enables you to lease a bike and equipment from your employer to enable you to cycle to work. Your employer will then deduct the costs from your gross salary.
Because the deductions are from your gross salary, you will pay less tax and National Insurance. The amount you save will depend upon your salary; savings can be up to 42% for higher-rate taxpayers.
What's is the usual process?
Following these steps ensures a smooth process for both employers and employees participating in the cycle to work scheme
Find out from your employer which scheme they participate in
Choose your bike and any additional accessories
Reserve your bike at Balfe's with a 25% fully refundable deposit
Apply for your voucher (if you have't already)
We will then build and prepare your bike & accessories
When everything is ready we will either call you to collect or ship your items with our courier
We refund your deposit (if applicable)
Enjoy your shiny new bike
FAQ's
Effectively you will be sacrificing part of your annual salary in exchange for a benefit. The benefit is being able to hire from your employer a bicycle and the related safety equipment and accessories that you will need to cycle to work.
Example: If you request a certificate for £1,000, your employer will deduct this cost over 12 months and each month £83.33 (£1000/12) will be deducted from your gross salary, i.e. you will not be paying tax and NI each month on this £83.33. The exact amount you save will depend upon salary, personal circumstances, and prevailing rates of tax.
You can use your certificate for any adult bike including electric bikes.
You can also use your certificate for most clothing, accessories & tools to make your journey safer or more secure. These include rider essentials such as commuter clothing, shoes & helmets, and vital accessories for your bike, including mudguards, lights, reflectors, panniers, etc. There are also important additions for bike longevity including tools & pumps, locks for security and commuting backpacks to make the journey more efficient.
No, we do not apply any surcharge, levy or handling fee to either full price or reduced bikes.
Yes! You can now use your certificate to purchase a sale or reduced bike without any additional surcharge.
Please note, we are not able to accept scheme certificates in conjunction with any other promotion, voucher code, coupon or StarBuy.
You can use your certificate for any of the equipment that you may need to either build or upgrade your existing bike, e.g. groupsets, wheels, componentry and any of the associated accessories or clothing within the above which will make your journey more safe or secure.
This will depend on any limits which your company may have in place. Up until recently, there was an HMRC imposed limit of £1,000 but this has now been removed and there are no limits imposed by HMRC. If your company still set the £1,000 limit you may wish to lobby them so you can obtain your dream bike!
The government guidelines stipulate that you must use it at least 50% of the time to cycle to work, that still leaves plenty of time for you to enjoy riding for pleasure!
The bike and equipment are technically owned by your employer during the hire period.
To ensure that the scheme retains its tax-free status there can be no guarantees that your employer will sell or transfer ownership of the bike to you. HMRC have set guidelines to give bikes a 'fair market value' to ascertain how much the bike is worth at the end of the hire period. For bikes under £500 this is 18% of the original price and for bikes over £500, 25% of the original price
At the end of the hire period you have 3 options: -
- Return the Bike & Equipment to your employer.
- Continue to hire the bike from your company for a further period of up to 36 months. In most instances, your employer will not charge for this.
- Buy the Bike from your employer at the 'fair market value'
You should ask your employer whether they have any policies in place relating to what happens at the end of the hire period. Most employers adopt 2. And at the end of the extended hire period, the bike is deemed to have no value and the ownership is transferred to you.
We accept all the major Cycle to Work vouchers including:-
Cyclescheme
Green Commute Initiative (GCI)
Halfords Cycle2Work
Evans Ride To Work
Bike2Work - Please note we are unable to release goods until we have been paid in full by this provider.
CyclePlus (Sodexo)
Cycle Solutions
Vivup
Gogeta
Some employers and scheme operators do require a quotation prior to issuing your voucher. Please call into any of our stores, use the enquiry form below, or email us [email protected] and we will be happy to provide one. This will provide the information which your employer or scheme provide may require, at this stage, it does not reserve your bike.
If you already have a CycleScheme voucher, you can check out online. For all other schemes, please send a PDF copy of your voucher as well as the list of your desired items to: [email protected]. If you do not already have your voucher, please fill in the enquiry form below.
You can redeem Cyclescheme certificates online. For all other schemes please fill in the form below and a member of staff will be in contact within 48 hours to help process your enquiry. Alternatively, contact us or visit us in-store and we will be happy to help you.