Cycle To Work Scheme.

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ArthurMcB said:
How? Surely money is being spent elsewhere on other things.im not poorer or richer from wfh...instead of buying overpriced coffee and sambos, my local grocery store is getting the benefit, for example.
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more money in your pocket is less money in the economy. Even in the example you have given your daily spend is down because you are buying cheaper from the grocery store. Those 'overpriced' coffee / sandwich shops will close and the people employed may have to go on unemployment and now the government need to fund all the extra people on unemployment benefit. If that is a long term issue of course the rest of the tax payers are going to pay for it somehow.

There is no such thing as a free lunch or in this case a much cheaper sandwich made at home.
 
Purple said:
Most people don't work in offices and have to be in work to work.
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The proportion of people that “work in offices” is much larger in cities and urban areas where the take up of the CTW scheme has been greatest. However, the number of people that fall into this category has greatly reduced. And after the “living with the virus” era has passed, many of those office companies, eg Pinterest, have committed to one day a week onsite. (This will affect support services like Spendtras and cafes. Their employees won’t have jobs near the offices to cycle to. )
 
While it is a shame that so many people are losing their jobs I always think that it is better to have a larger part of the economy in internationally traded goods and services as they create wealth whereas the coffee shop just really moves it around.
 
Drakon said:
The proportion of people that “work in offices” is much larger in cities and urban areas where the take up of the CTW scheme has been greatest. However, the number of people that fall into this category has greatly reduced. And after the “living with the virus” era has passed, many of those office companies, eg Pinterest, have committed to one day a week onsite. (This will affect support services like Spendtras and cafes. Their employees won’t have jobs near the offices to cycle to. )
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All true but if you work from home you don't qualify for the cycle to work scheme.
 
WolfeTone said:
I would rather see a system where the cost of bicycle repairs, servicing, upgrading etc was deductable against income tax.
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I really like this idea. This is so progressive. It really acknowledges the past benefit of the CTW scheme, and brings it forward to the future. And it’s green-focussed in line with the spirit of the CTW scheme.
 
Purple said:
All true but if you work from home you don't qualify for the cycle to work scheme.
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Which is another thing I’m getting at. It’s a scheme from a bygone era.
Unless the government drop their “living with the virus” plan and go with the Swedish or NZ model, the new normal will be more like 2020 than 2009.
 
Drakon said:
Which is another thing I’m getting at. It’s a scheme from a bygone era.
Unless the government drop their “living with the virus” plan and go with the Swedish or NZ model, the new normal will be more like 2020 than 2009.
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Less people will use it but that doesn't mean it should be dropped.
 
Drakon said:
Which is another thing I’m getting at. It’s a scheme from a bygone era.
Unless the government drop their “living with the virus” plan and go with the Swedish or NZ model, the new normal will be more like 2020 than 2009.
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office workers may be more inclined to work from home in the future, what about shop workers, factory operatives, teachers, nurses etc - are they not allowed to cycle to work?

if anything it needs to be expanded so it's not restricted to PAYE workers whose employers are willing to participate. The govt subsidises electric cars to the tune of 5K - bikes and ebikes are far more environmentally friendly and cheaper. The more people on bikes the better.
 
I dont think its correct to say that wfh results in less money being spent in the economy. It does result in less money being spent in certain businesses but more being spent in others.

More money in you pocket, as you put it dublinbay ...means more money to spend...in the economy...on stuff/anything...other than cafes etc beside the office. Your point isnt valid.
 
There's billions in extra savings (unspent money) since March. It is without question that working from home results in lower consumer spending.
 
ArthurMcB said:
I dont think its correct to say that wfh results in less money being spent in the economy. It does result in less money being spent in certain businesses but more being spent in others.

More money in you pocket, as you put it dublinbay ...means more money to spend...in the economy...on stuff/anything...other than cafes etc beside the office. Your point isnt valid.
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Have you now got more money in your savings account than you would otherwise have had? Have you spent money on 'luxury' items that you wouldn't have spent before?

More money in your pocket does mean more money to spend, but the evidence (~40% decrease in consumer spending at the height of the pandemic) suggests that money is being saved (Irish households saved ~10bln in the first 7 months of 2020 vs ~5bln in the same period of 2019).

We have all seen the rise in unemployment and it is unsustainable for the Government to continue to pay for this without passing some cost on through taxes or reduction in spending in other areas. At the end of the day they have to balance the books.
 
This is one of the dumbest ideas put forward here in quite a while. What is the actual purpose of it? To punish those working from home? To ensure fewer people take up cycling?

There is massive investment in cycling infrastructure proposed, it's not an either/or, the Cycle to Work scheme is a benefit that is not confined to those using the bike to actually cycle to work, it may have been the original intention, but it's essentially an encouragement to buy a bike and to use it. There have never been checks on whether it was actually used to cycle to work, nor should there be.

All those working from home can use the bike to do their shopping or just get exercise. Is that a bad thing?

The scheme was just recently (July) changed to reduce the period from 5 years to 4 between purchases and also increased the amount that can be spent on bikes and claimed back. A fairer system would be a voucher as people on the higher tax rate benefit more than those on the lower tax rate.

There should also be a much higher limit for e-bikes and particularly e-cargo bikes as that could be a game changer for families to ditch the car.
 
Purple said:
All true but if you work from home you don't qualify for the cycle to work scheme.
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Not entirely true: I work from home but cycle to my clients: it's not just about the home to office commute.
Clarification
I don't go to the office, I go to client sites where the work gets done
 
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Branz said:
Not entirely true: I work from home but cycle to my clients: it's not just about the home to office commute.
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If your home is your place of work then you are not cycling to work when visiting your clients. The Bike to Work scheme is for a journey which could not be considered a business expense. Travelling from your place of work to a client is a business trip.
 
Purple said:
If your home is your place of work then you are not cycling to work when visiting your clients. The Bike to Work scheme is for a journey which could not be considered a business expense. Travelling from your place of work to a client is a business trip.
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I work on sites, so the sites are my place of work. Maybe my first post was inaccurate
 
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Purple said:
In fairness the overall spend in the economy had been reduced significantly.
In the longer term city centres may become places to live again, which would be great.
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But can that be directly attributed to wfh? Or is it due to reduced activity associated with pandemic/lockdown?

Wfh isnt the culprit, its covid and the resultant lockdown.

Some business may suffer as a result of widespread wfh but other will flourish.

Businesses should try to adapt.
 
huskerdu said:
The cycle to work scheme is not an incentive to go into the office when you shouldn’t .
Not everyone can WFH, and It’s inevitable that most of us who are working from home at the moment will end up back the office part time or full time at some stage.
Cycling is a great way to commute to work and should be encouraged .
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picture yourself cycling to work at 67yrs age with arthritic joints in lashing rain and when you get there you've no energy left to do your job
 
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