Whether or not the Olympics or the sunshine has spurred you on to start thinking about sports and exercise, it’s a timely reminder that there are some provisions in the taxes acts that encourage cycling to work.

As an employer you may either run a cycle to work scheme or through a third-party provider, like a bike shop. Through the scheme, you can give access to a loaned bike and/or safety equipment.

Employees must use the bike and/or safety equipment mainly (more than 50 per cent of the time) for ‘qualifying’ journeys. This means a journey or part of a journey:

• between an employee’s home and workplace
• between one workplace and another
• to and from the train station to get to work

Taking part in the scheme means that employees don’t have to pay a lump sum up front to buy a bike and/or safety equipment. Instead, you could loan the bike and/or equipment, usually up to the value of £1,000.

Bearing in mind that normal commuting between a permanent workplace and work is disallowed, it’s a great way to get fitter and save money!

Please contact us if you would like more information.