Finance (No. 2) Act 2008

Benefit-in-kind charge: relief for bicycles.

7.— (1) Chapter 3 of Part 5 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 118 by inserting the following after subsection (5F):

“(5G) (a) Subject to paragraph (c) of this subsection, subsection (1) shall not apply to expense of up to €1,000 incurred by the body corporate in, or in connection with, the provision for a director or employee of a bicycle or bicycle safety equipment, where—

(i) the bicycle and bicycle safety equipment provided is unused and not second-hand,

(ii) the director or employee uses the bicycle or bicycle safety equipment, or the bicycle and the bicycle safety equipment, as the case may be, mainly for qualifying journeys, and

(iii) bicycles or bicycle safety equipment, or bicycles and bicycle safety equipment, as the case may be, are made available generally to directors and employees of the body corporate.

(b) In this subsection—

‘ bicycle ’ means a pedal cycle;

‘ bicycle safety equipment ’ includes—

(i) bicycle bells and bulb horns,

(ii) bicycle helmets that conform to European product safety standard CEN/EN 1078,

(iii) bicycle lights, including dynamo packs,

(iv) bicycle reflectors and reflective clothing, and

(v) such other safety equipment as the Revenue Commissioners may allow;

‘ normal place of work ’ means the place where the director or employee normally performs the duties of his or her office or employment;

‘ pedal cycle ’ means—

(i) a bicycle or tricycle which is intended or adapted for propulsion solely by the physical exertions of a person or persons seated thereon, or

(ii) a pedelec,

but does not include a moped or a scooter;

‘ pedelec ’ means a bicycle or tricycle which is equipped with an auxiliary electric motor having a maximum continuous rated power of 0.25 kilowatts, of which output is progressively reduced and finally cut off as the vehicle reaches a speed of 25 kilometres per hour, or sooner if the cyclist stops pedalling;

‘ qualifying journey ’, in relation to a director or employee, means the whole or part of a journey—

(i) between the director’s or employee’s home and normal place of work, or

(ii) between the director’s or employee’s normal place of work and another place of work, where the director or employee is travelling in the performance of the duties of his or her office or employment.

(c) A director or employee shall not, by virtue of this subsection, be relieved from a charge to income tax under subsection (1) more than once in any period of 5 consecutive years of assessment, commencing with the year of assessment in which the director or employee concerned is first provided with a bicycle or bicycle safety equipment.”,

(b) in section 118B—

(i) in subsection (1) in the definition of “ salary sacrifice agreement ” by substituting “‘salary sacrifice arrangement’ ” for “salary sacrifice agreement”,

(ii) in subsection (2)—

(I) in paragraph (a)(i) by deleting “and” and in paragraph (a)(ii) by substituting “section 510(4), and” for “section 510(4),”, and

(II) by inserting the following after paragraph (a)(ii):

“(iii) a bicycle or bicycle safety equipment provided to a director or employee and which is exempt from a charge to tax by virtue of section 118(5G),”,

and

(iii) in subsection (5) by substituting “salary sacrifice arrangement” for “salary sacrifice agreement”.

(2) This section applies in respect of expense incurred on or after 1 January 2009.