Introduction

DCU is now a participating employer in the Government tax incentive Cycle to Work Scheme, which aims to encourage more employees to cycle to work. Effective from 1 January 2009 the scheme is designed to facilitate employees’ purchase a bicycle and/or associated cycle equipment tax-free. The key objectives of the scheme are to:

1. Encourage more employees to cycle to and from work
2. Contribute to lowering carbon emissions
3. Help reduce traffic congestion
4. Help improve health and fitness levels

Basic Principles

The basic principles of the scheme are:

• (A) An employee may purchase a bicycle and/or associated cycle equipment up to the value of €1,000 tax-free. However, the bicycle must be paid for by the University in order to comply with the terms of the scheme.This payment can only be made by way of a Bank Transfer.
• (B) The bicycle and/or equipment must be used by the employee mainly for what is termed as ‘qualifying journeys’ (see below)
• (C) The bicycle and/or equipment will be purchased by the employer. The employee will reimburse the employer for the cost of the bicycle through a salary sacrifice arrangement (see below)

Eligibility

The scheme is eligible to all employees irrespective of contract status or duration.

Qualifying Journeys

The bicycle and/or safety equipment must be used by the employee mainly for what is termed as ‘qualifying journeys’. A qualifying journey is classified as the whole or part of a journey between the employee’s home and place of work. An employee wishing to avail of the scheme will be required to submit a signed document (Appendix 1) stating that the bicycle will be mainly used for qualifying journeys.

How the Scheme will Operate

It is important to note that a key condition of the scheme is the requirement for the employer to purchase the bicycle. Therefore to avail of the scheme and its benefits the following steps must be taken:

1. Select a bicycle and/or equipment up to the value €1,000 from a bicycle shop of your choosing
2. Request that the bicycle shop invoices DCU (HR Department) for the purchase of the bicycle.
3. If the cost of the bicycle exceeds €1,000, the excess amount must be paid by cheque and presented to the HR Department before the invoice can be paid in full.
4. Complete and return to HR the Cycle to Work Application Form and Cycle to Work Salary Sacrifice Form
5. Upon receipt of the invoice and completed forms by HR and the Finance office, the purchase of the bicycle will be processed within 10 working days.
6. Invoices can only be paid by a Bank Transfer. The invoice must therefore include/ be accompanied with the bank details of the relevant bicycle shop, i.e. Bank Name, Bank Address, Sort Code & the Account number.

Salary Sacrifice

The employee is required to reimburse the purchase amount to the employer through salary sacrifice, the details of which are captured in the Cycle to Work Salary Sacrifice Form When applying to avail of the scheme you must complete and submit this form. The key points to note are: