Sole trader - bike as a tax write-off?!?

So if I'm using the bike on a daily basis for meetings etc 5 days a week, and riding it 1-2 days over the weekend for fun, does claiming a 3rd of it still make sense?

no. that's 70% if you only ride on 5 days for nothing but meetings.

just calculate how much of the bike use if for self-employed work.

My dunce mind is slowly figuring this out. So if I want to be completely honest, which I do, I could keep the beater going and ride to work on that, keep the shiny new carbon at the studio and use that for meetings and work related travel, and then claim 70% of it back.

Or setup the cycle to work scheme for my company, which is apparently possible but more of a admin-ball-ache I imagine.

no. that's 70% if you only ride on 5 days for nothing but meetings.

just calculate how much of the bike use if for self-employed work.

I met a chap who claimed his motorcycle as plant machinery so fuel, repairs and everything are write-offable or other tax wordy type stuff.

All legal

Unless it was only used on private land, and never on the road, he'd have a hard time explaining that during an audit.

My dunce mind is slowly figuring this out. So if I want to be completely honest, which I do, I could keep the beater going and ride to work on that, keep the shiny new carbon at the studio and use that for meetings and work related travel, and then claim 70% of it back.

Or setup the cycle to work scheme for my company, which is apparently possible but more of a admin-ball-ache I imagine.

no. if you have two bikes, and only used the new one on freelance work you'd claim 100%. It's based on use of that one bike.

you have to justify it. think like this. if you had a car, you'd not get away with a second car unless it was very different use, a van would be very different.

But I'd be using the new bike at weekends too.

no. if you have two bikes, and only used the new one on freelance work you'd claim 100%. It's based on use of that one bike.

Lots of advice above.

My accountant lets me claim bicycle miles when using the bike for work related matters - visiting clients, going to the printers, visiting venues, going to the post office etc, I think the rate is something like 15p per mile but not 100% sure.

If you are using it five days a week for business purposes keep a record of where you went and when, tot this up on an annual basis and claim the mileage back from the company. To keep the tax man happy you should be able to prove your work mileage - keeping a diary would solve this.

Your weekend or pleasure riding is something different and can't be claimed.

I can claim this as the bicycle is mine, not related to the company - I am using my personal bike for company business and therefore I can claim mileage at teh current rate. It actually works out really profitable over a 12 month period, teh bike running costs are minimal yet I can claim back (out of my company) a fairly decent sum - if you ride a lot doing work related activities you'll have paid yourself back over a couple of years.

Unless you are a window cleaner (for example) and use your bike as someone else would use a van you can't buy a bike and claim tax relief on it - as someone else said the bike needs to be a tool for your job and not a means of transport. Even if you plastered it with your company logo it isn't considered a 'tool' for marketing.

On another note, as above - you can claim back house expenses if you work at home, even if its only for a half day per week - its all pro rata but you can claim for cleaning, heating, power, rent etc. as a percentage.

Depending on your work you can also claim for certain clothes and many other things should you be so inclined.

Good luck!

But I'd be using the new bike at weekends too.

see above. it's been explained a couple times now.

Thanks for that info Guzzi. It sounds like a pretty good way of going about it. Judging by the past month I would say I've done 200 miles of business related cycling, so at 20p a mile (according to the HMRC site) that would work out at £40/month (£480/year) I could claim back. That sounds like the best way for me to approach this.

Lots of advice above.

My accountant lets me claim bicycle miles...

Fuck, just realised I can claim for the miles I've done already this year!!!!! Result

The only way around all the complexities of how much to claim, how to claim is to use the cycle to work scheme (though the mileage option may work for you better). In terms of admin it is very simple and so long as you use the bikes according to the scheme rules (min 50% of mileage work/ commuting related) then you can have as many bikes on it as you wish.

However if you want advice that is tailored to your personal situation, and not the result of guesswork from internet 'experts' then talk to an accountant - and this is advice from an accountant (who doesn't specialise in personal tax). In my experience very few people actually understand the cycle to work scheme - all they understand is what they have read in marketing material from cycle to work schemes or the rules that a particular company has decided to implement. There is for example no requirement for the cyclist to pay for the cycle. I could go on, but really.... talk to an accountant.

HMRC mileage rates

This doesn't apply to commuting, just mileage as part of work. See the HMRC guidance on mileage expenses. The first link there has a clear section under "Which journeys are 'work journeys'?"

I just spoke to an adviser at HMRC and cleared it up. The 200 miles a month of work related cycling I do, which the adviser confirmed is legit, can be claimed at 20p mile. So that works out really well for me, and should pay for a £1k bike over 2 year's worth of returns.

Now I just have to clear it with the Mrs...

Ha!

The tax office or the missus - who to fear the most.........

No question. One-off possible audit vs daily audit?

HMRC are snowed under at the moment and are way behind on their audit schedule for general tax matters...

'Sole trader' and 'Limited Company Director' have quite different taxation rules.

Accountant steer required.