# £1000 c2w to spend....what to buy?



## deanbmx (19 Feb 2013)

I'm after a MTB for general XC usage and occasional cycle to work when I don't fancy using the roadie.

Can be purchased through halfords or leisure lakes.

More than likely going to be a hardtail but open to options on a full sus.

Been looking at cubes (have a cube road bike which I'm over the moon with) quite like the ltd pro, which seems pretty well spec'd top.

Any suggestions


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## BSRU (19 Feb 2013)

deanbmx said:


> I'm after a MTB for general XC usage and occasional cycle to work when I don't fancy using the roadie.
> 
> Can be purchased through halfords or leisure lakes.
> 
> ...


Not a good place to ask really, C2W bikes are primarily for people to commute to work on, not using it for that is tax fraud in some peoples opinion(they should be along shortly).


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## Lee_M (19 Feb 2013)

As long as you use it 'sometimes' you are ok, there isn't a limit on how many times.

To be absolutely sure, I guess the OP should have said

"I'm after a MTB for occasional cycle to work when I don't fancy using the roadie and general XC usage"

Then they'd have been ok

BTW you can now use the C2W for just buying gear and dont need to buy a bike - this was clarified by HMRC recently


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## subaqua (19 Feb 2013)

Lee_M said:


> As long as you use it 'sometimes' you are ok, *there isn't a limit on how many times.*
> 
> To be absolutely sure, I guess the OP should have said
> 
> ...


 50% of its journeys i beleive. so to comply with the rules if you used it once for work once for a jolly then didn't use it again till after the 12 months and paid fair market value then you would be fine. personally do what you like. Norm was the expert but sadly he was abused a little too much i think


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## Lee_M (19 Feb 2013)

subaqua said:


> 50% of its journeys i beleive. so to comply with the rules if you used it once for work once for a jolly then didn't use it again till after the 12 months and paid fair market value then you would be fine. personally do what you like. Norm was the expert but sadly he was abused a little too much i think


 
I believe the 50% is a misunderstanding. My company C2W scheme explicitly addresses that and says there is no minimum as long as it has been/will be used


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## SquareDaff (19 Feb 2013)

Lee_M said:


> I believe the 50% is a misunderstanding. My company C2W scheme explicitly addresses that and says there is no minimum as long as it has been/will be used


Ditto for mine! Not that they check anyway.


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## subaqua (19 Feb 2013)

Lee_M said:


> I believe the 50% is a misunderstanding. My company C2W scheme explicitly addresses that and says there is no minimum as long as it has been/will be used


 


SquareDaff said:


> Ditto for mine! Not that they check anyway.


 
regardless of what your company rules say , HMRC can be quite pernickity
http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/cycle-to-work-guidance/cycle-to-work-guidance.pdf

4) scope of tax exemption . have a read down and it mentions more than 50% .

depends on your Moral compass though. you can't bleat about Starbucks and Vodafone if you are going to do similar.


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## Lee_M (19 Feb 2013)

well there you go, you learn summat new everyday

what's 50% though - miles, number of days, distance travelled?

as it happens I decided against C2W when given the option anyway as I couldnt see why I'd want to spend that amount on a bike, too much for a commuter that goes into London and too little to satify my toys gene.


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## deanbmx (19 Feb 2013)

We have a benefit scheme which gives us 4% of our annual wage to spend on gym membership, c2w and other things so it wouldn't actually cost me anything.

It would get used 90% of summer as the roadie did.


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## SquareDaff (19 Feb 2013)

subaqua said:


> regardless of what your company rules say , HMRC can be quite pernickity
> http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/cycle-to-work-guidance/cycle-to-work-guidance.pdf
> 
> 4) scope of tax exemption . have a read down and it mentions more than 50% .
> ...


Nothing wrong with my moral compass. My C2W bike gets ridden daily. 

Your comments do raise an interesting question though and I ask as I'm curious not to be arsey!! If the company scheme tells you something in contradiction to the rules laid out be the tax man then surely any claim would have to go against the company and not the employee. They are after all following the rules of the scheme devised by their employers. Wouldn't that seem right?


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## subaqua (19 Feb 2013)

SquareDaff said:


> Nothing wrong with my moral compass. My C2W bike gets ridden daily.
> 
> Your comments do raise an interesting question though and I ask as I'm curious not to be arsey!! If the company scheme tells you something in contradiction to the rules laid out be the tax man then surely any claim would have to go against the company and not the employee. They are after all following the rules of the scheme devised by their employers. Wouldn't that seem right?


 nope, the individual is responsible for their tax affairs and ignorance of the rules/law is not a defence HMRC accept. several guys in work have been paid using the wrong tax code and now have bills for several thousand pounds HMRC have said its down to the individual to ensure they have been paying the correct amount of tax.

it sucks but thems the rules. I will be getting a new C2W bike this summer to avoid popping over the child benefit threshold. the bike will be ridden to death on the commute and after 12 months handed back for a new C2W voucher if the scheme is still going. means i can keep my own bikes from getting battered too much. I may even just buy £1k of lights shoes coat etc. which won't take long at all. then hand them back after the 12 months.


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