Lease bike from the company; as long as that doesn't cause any mishaps!

By Robert Rommelaars As of 2020, the (leased) company bicycle is included in the law. The employer provides a company bicycle to the employee, and the employee adds 7% of the recommended retail price. In practice, the employee usually surrenders part of his gross salary (lease installments) for a period of 36 months, in exchange for the company bicycle. Incidentally, the employee is no longer entitled to a travel allowance if he rides a company bicycle to work. But what is actually even crazier is that the employee has paid for the bicycle out of his gross salary, but has actually received nothing in return! After all, the bike still belongs to the employer/leasing company!

Many bicycle plans have included a provision, which allows the employee to take over the bicycle at a small price (think 15% of the purchase price), after the employee has paid the lease installments out of gross wages. However, if the employee pays 15% of the purchase price, the Inland Revenue may take the position, that the actual value is higher and deduct payroll taxes on the difference between the residual value and takeover price. Now 1 bicycle is not a bicycle! But a lot of bicycles are a tax risk. My advice; take a look at the fine print of the bicycle scheme!