Financing an Ebike through a company

[RustyMTB]

Thinking about moving on to a new eeb & I'm hearing as a company director, it's possible for me to buy an eeb & provided a few not especially onerous conditions are met, I can write off 100% of the cost against taxable profits AND reclaim the VAT. Obvs this is very attractive & I'm in a position to do this.

So, before I sack my accountant for never telling me this, has anyone here ever done it? And if so, any issues?

 

[Tim1023]

Yup, I've done it and so far it's been very good. It's a company bike that is available for 100% private use. Leased from a specialist bike leasing company.

Mind you, I'm in Germany, so the tax rules are different.

The only risk for me was potentially affecting social security & pension payments in the future a little bit, but I'm maxed out on the affected contributions, so that doesn't bother me. Or something like that. Tax stuff. Don't understand it. My wife takes care of all things financial.

I also had to persuade the boss's secretary to go through the hassle of the paperwork (we're a very small company).

I've paid extra for servicing and insurance, which means that pretty much everything is covered, including parts that wear out (budget of EUR 300 per year), partial damage, theft of things attached to the bike, etc...

Two major inspections over the three years of the contract. The lbs has a relationship with the leasing company, so that eases some of the paperwork.

At the end of the three years, I can just give it back or buy from the company. If I recall the details correctly, the "official" value of the bike is 18% of the new bike according to the tax authorities. This is taxable, but the leasing firm pays the tax amount.

All told, I save over 35% on the bike without even calculating any insurance or parts I may need to replace.

The key thing to remember is that it's not your bike, so you're going to have to keep is pretty much vanilla for three years.

Don't know what difference it might make being a company director instead of an employee like me. That'd be one for your accountant. Maybe the new one.

 

[MrSimmo]

Yup ? No issues at all, plus you can combine it with Cycle2Work if your account is clever about it ?

 

[RustyMTB]

Okay then. Looks like I'm going shopping. Cheers guys.