Cyclescheme

i clearly am not, my bicicyle demonstrates this quite clearly. YOU BASTARD.

Flaming got silly recently. I'm keeping my head down. Still, keen to find somewhere to spend these virtual bike dollars. Need a quote in the next three days to take advantage of it.

In my mind, I imagine a network of University cycle clubs / Student Leagues and campuses where cyclists are the majority. It makes sense. We are poor students, no?

As far as I know, there isn't anything like this, although I may be wrong. There do seem to be some universities with good clubs / societies, but no network that I am aware of.

We have just managed to get a 'Cycling' board up at college in the sports corridor.
Trouble is, I can't seem to find anyone to make a team with!

A lot of our society members have old bikes that suit commuting but wouldn't handle a long club ride / sportive...
Most people are unwilling to cash out £500-700 for a road bike unless they are really into riding...........and only those who are already interested would have the will to figure out how to get one cheaply themselves, I guess.....

I know 'Cycle to Work' is encouraged through Cyclescheme is provided by employers and the government.
I was wondering if a Cycle to Uni would be possible.
And if so, how on earth to go about it?
If someone could pick up an entry level road bike for a small monthly instalment and make the massive tax saving, it would be worthwhile and I dare say there would be a lot more students looking at cycling as a sport as well as a mode of transport.

I am guessing some sort of pilot scheme would be necessary. It would probably have to run through the SLC, but with the forthcoming cuts to Universities etc. I am doubtful that this is a possibility. But if it was, I would like to look into it.

Anyone with any info, advice...most appreciated :)

As a student, you are a dirty, unwashed tax dodger.

Hard to make the saving up on your tax payments when you don't pay tax!!

err students do pay tax . . .

I know, but their working parents (if this applies) pay tax
a lot of people only get their student loan based on their parent's income...

i'm wondering if there is a loop-hole....

or scrap the tax saving, but make it a loan, so that they still get the opportunity to buy the bike, but in instalments so that it is affordable?

I bloody dont

err students do pay tax . . .

umm....

no we don't?

not when you are earning less that £6,900 a year or something?

Soul does have a point as Students do not pay income tax. Perhaps the NUS could seek a deal with a major bike distributor (or better still with lots of Local Bike Shops) to discount bikes for students and also seek to find easy loans, insurance and vat relief for its members.

where are people getting the "students don't pay income tax" from?

umm....

no we don't?

not when you are earning less that £6,900 a year or something?

You pay VAT as well as excise duty on alcohol and tobacco and numerous other indirect taxes such as IPT. Indeed with the levies on alcohol and tobacco, students probably pay more tax than most ;o)

where are people getting the "students don't pay income tax" from?

If they are not working they don't. If they are working they can use the Cycle to Work scheme.

If they are not working they don't. If they are working they can use the Cycle to Work scheme.

Even if you are a working student, the majority do not go over the minimum wage bracket for taxation.

Most bike shops already offer a student discount of some sorts. Can't you just be happy with that until you get a job?

You could always ask a family member if they could get the cycle scheme on your behalf then you wire the money every month.

You could always ask a family member if they could get the cycle scheme on your behalf then you wire the money every month.

That could be a potential tax fraud.

Dealing in drugs or prostitution is the usual student way.

When I applied for uni, it was the last year that the LEA subsidised your fees, and since I was mature age and on a low income, I had all three years paid in full. Further to that, I applied for the full £5500 a year maximum loan, and had a £1000 grant given to me per year that didn't have to be paid back.

WIN.

Alright, gloat over, as you were.

CliveO is sex an "industry"? Maybe in your parts...

arvy, my parts, as you term them, have been abstaining from sex for a while now. No cycling; no sex.

Most bike shops already offer a student discount of some sorts. Can't you just be happy with that until you get a job?

I have my bike, and a job, so I'm happy.

When I applied for uni, it was the last year that the LEA subsidised your fees, and since I was mature age and on a low income, I had all three years paid in full. Further to that, I applied for the full £5500 a year maximum loan, and had a £1000 grant given to me per year that didn't have to be paid back.

WIN.

Alright, gloat over, as you were.

hah!
lucky you.
what bike porn did you invest in?

I have my bike, and a job, so I'm happy.

Great! So, can we end the thread then?

you can stop contributing to it if you like.....

hah!
lucky you.
what bike porn did you invest in?

Beer and fry-ups FOR GREAT JUSTICE.

Having thought about this, I can't think how it's not just a £500 bank loan.

That's the only way to do the money side of it... the remaining aspect is how to do the tax avoidance aspect. But for that you would need to somehow officially confirm the full-time student status.

So I agree with your idea that the SLC could operate a scheme to hand out a voucher or something in which you could obtain the bike at a discount from a specific supplier (say, Evans).

The money aspect is too much risk for the SLC to take on though, so either you have your own cash or you obtain a loan for it. What could be done is that there could be an agreement between the SLC and a bank such that the loan was taken out in an applicants name but the cash provided directly to the SLC as administrators of the scheme.

This all is a potentially lucrative scheme for the SLC as most large chains offer affiliate schemes which are worth very little to most entities but for a university sending that many sales it could actually cover the admin costs.

All-in-all... I think it's viable. But it require buy-in from a student/university organisation to administer it, and the best version of the scheme would require buy-in from a bank too.

Very good idea though.

Yep. The way cycle to work operates is that your employer pays for the bike up front, then leases it to you for 12 months. Thus they bear the risk of you defaulting. This risk is quite low, though, as (a) they employee you, and (b) they take the payment from your pay packet every month.

The discounts simply come from tax relief: your installments are taken from your gross pay, so you don't pay any income tax or national insurance on it. This is just a way for the government to subsidise the bicycle (as they are forgoing that tax revenue).

So in theory, you could persuade the government to subsidise students as well, but the absence of (a) the risk-free (for the gov) repayment mechanism, and (b) a simple way to administer the subsidy, the cost of implementing the scheme could outweigh the benefits.