How much does leasing a bicycle through an employer cost?
Companies aim to get as many employees as possible to ride bikes! It is a popular trend that manifests itself in many ways: cycle kilometres to work are reimbursed, companies enter into bicycle leasing contracts and cycle highways are mushrooming. But the question is: what exactly are the benefits of leasing a bicycle through the employer? And what is the cost to the employee?
Get rich cycling: in Flanders, almost 90% of employees can profit from a bicycle allowance. As long as this allowance is below € 0.24 per commuting kilometre cycled, the amount is tax-free. More and more employees are happily signing up for the many benefits of commuting by (electric) bike.
Clearly, cycling is high on the political agenda! Cyclobility expects more and more companies to start offering bicycle leasing . It may not seem so easy at first sight, but Cyclobility offers employees and employers a one stop shop.
Leasing a bicycle through your employer?
An e-bike or speed pedelec certainly doesn’t come cheap, but if you lease a bike through their employer, you do not have to cough up the whole amount at once.
Also, the lease amount is deducted from the gross salary every month, so the employee barely exchanges half of the cost net. After 48 months, the employee becomes the owner of a quality bicycle if he or she pays the residual amount, which isn’t much. A leased bicycle can also be part of a cafeteria plan: remuneration tailored to the employee at the same cost for the employer. Make sure that you stay above the salary grade, however.
A bike or e-bike can also fall within the leasing budget that would otherwise be used for a company car. In that case, the employee opts for a smaller car and uses the budget that becomes available for a lease bicycle . In this way, the employee's net wage is not affected.
Cyclobility ensures that the employee can commute to work every day without any worries. Cyclobility’s lease package includes theft and damage insurance, (multi-)annual maintenance, breakdown assistance, etc.
Why is a bicycle lease financially interesting?
Bike leasing includes bike rental and everything that is part of your cycling experience: maintenance, insurance against theft and damage, bike assistance and a replacement service. Cyclobility offers a bicycle leasing package tailored to your company.
When leasing a bicycle in Belgium, the employer and employee will generally agree that a bicycle is provided in exchange for a salary deduction. And that is a wonderful thing, because the contribution is deducted from the gross monthly pay, and therefore exempt from income tax and National Insurance, which means the employee only pays half of the actual cost.
And if the employer pays a bicycle allowance, it is actually possible to reduce the cost for the employee to zero. In some cases it is even possible to make a profit!
Concrete example of how much bicycle leasing costs for the employee:
Suppose you want to lease a bicycle with a retail value of € 3,000 over a period of 48 months. Each month, you pay approximately € 45 net, depending on your personal situation. This amount includes insurance, breakdown assistance, maintenance, warranty replacement service, etc. After 48 months, you can take over the bike for the residual value. You can also simply return the bicycle to Cyclobility.
Don't forget that you can set off part or all of the monthly cost with the bicycle allowance. An employee who commutes 10 km daily will receive € 48 in bicycle allowance at the end of the month.
Are you obliged to take out a maintenance contract?
With Cyclobility, the maintenance contract comes as standard with the bicycle leasing contract. Of course, this contract is flexible and each company can individually choose which services and insurances to include or exclude, possibly even individually tailored to each employee.
What can you use a lease bike for?
The law states that the leased bicycle must 'actually' be used to cycle to work. So you have to cycle to work on a regular basis. The number of days per bike is not specified anywhere, just use your common sense. The bike can also be used for leisure. It's also fine to cycle from home to the railway station and continue your journey by train. If you do, you too can enjoy the benefits of a bicycle lease contract and the untaxed bicycle allowance.
Are you entitled to an untaxed bicycle allowance for any type of bicycle?
The right to a bicycle allowance is not linked to the type of bicycle. The only condition is that you actually have to commute to work by bike.
Whether you use a company bike, a lease bike or your own bike is of no importance.
What other benefits does a bicycle lease through work provide?
In addition to the financial benefit, you also have the positive impact on mobility, on your health and on the environment. It has been proven that people who cycle to work suffer less from stress and are in better physical and mental condition.
The Cyclobility website lists many other benefits of bicycle leasing. Bicycle leasing through work is a big but simple step towards a more sustainable society! Cyclobility is the perfect bicycle leasing partner! Hassle-free bicycle leasing is what our business is all about.
Contact us and we’ll come and talk to you. Cyclobility will explain all the aspects of bicycle leasing to you, and guarantees that it will get you the right bicycle leasing policy. Does leasing a bicycle through an employer have benefits for you? Yes!
