cycle scheme - con trick? advice needed please.

saverdude

custardy wrote: »

well thats the thing
looking at the OPs breakdown it makes it a pointless exercise no pun)
all it offers is a way to pay a bike up at near full retail
you could save more buying in the annual sales

My point exactly. I have to say that it wad a more attractive scheme 18 months ago...

I think I could negotiate similar if not better savings myself. Yes I will make some savings on tax and ni, but everything else wipes the savings out.

saverdude

I think I have made up my mind that this scheme is absolute b****cks!

Not only is it not as good in terms of hmrc taking a bigger slice, but every bike shop I have spoken to adds to the price 10% for the privilege of buying a bike on the scheme.

0% credit card to the rescue I think.... And voucher back to cyclescheme...

It sucks!

Hope this helps others make up their mind.

custardy

saverdude wrote: »

I think I have made up my mind that this scheme is absolute b****cks!

Not only is it not as good in terms of hmrc taking a bigger slice, but every bike shop I have spoken to adds to the price 10% for the privilege of buying a bike on the scheme.

0% credit card to the rescue I think.... And voucher back to cyclescheme...

It sucks!

Hope this helps others make up their mind.

the 10% is what most scheme administrators charge
Halfords charge 15%

saverdude

Oh... I forgot to mention that most of the shops I have spoken with only offer the bikes at full ticket price to boot. So any discount is not applicable...

So to summarize - top rate price +/or 10% + Vat on payments + hefty fair market value = unattractive scheme for anyone who had read small print and can pay by other means.

And by paying with credit card I get statutory consumer protection... This scheme is a hire scheme....

Not for me!

Bernie

...to me it was just another tax avoidance scheme like my pension AVC. I selected my bike from Halfords website (Boardman Hybrid Pro) and when discussing with a friendly and helpful chap in the local shop, was offerred 2010 model he found in stock at a markedly reduced price to the 2011 version.

The simple way I looked at this is that I "bought" bike and accessories for nearly £1,000 through the C2W scheme. To obtain the same kit outside of the C2W scheme, I would have need to earn/use around £2,000 of my salary to be able to walk into Halfords with the £1,000 cash in my hand! (Reluctant 40% taxpayer).

My company scheme had no charges, it was a straight forward arrangement, you asked for a sum of money, you "pay" that amount back through 12 monthly "deductions".

Judging by the swathe of people applying for C2W in my company, a lot of people think that the Cycle2Work scheme is beneficial. I do too...

:beer: