More incentives for bike commuters in Europe
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
As reported in Bike Europe, four European countries have introduced tax breaks for cycling to work or extended existing ones over the last few months: France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy.
The idea of rewarding sustainable commuting behaviour is gaining ground throughout the continent.
Belgium introduced a reimbursement scheme based on the kilometers cycled to and from work back in 1999, but the amount of the tax-free reimbursement has recently been raised to 23 eurocents per kilometer. The number of employees benefiting from this scheme has increased by 30% between 2011 and 2015 alone. This means that over 400,000 Belgians, or 9% of the country's workforce, now receive a cycling reimbursement. Together, they cycled more than 420 million kilometers in 2015.
Luxembourg has recently undertaken a comprehensive fiscal reform and has used this opportunity to introduce fiscal incentives for cycling. From now on, tax payers will be able to deduct 300 euro from their personal income tax for the purchase of a new bike or e-bike. Companies will also have the possibility to give their employees bikes for both business and private use, and contrary to company cars, this ‘benefit in kind' is completely tax free for the employee. Furthermore, at the end of the lease the employee can receive/purchase the bike tax-free from the company.
France introduced a reimbursement scheme similar to the Belgian model back in 2015, but with severe restrictions concerning the maximum yearly tax-free amount. According to French sources, a decree is currently under preparation for public bodies to pay this cycling reimbursement to their employees. The tax-free payment would be limited to €200 per year and employee, which makes the scheme far less attractive than its Belgian counterpart. French cycling organizations, amongst which continue to advocate for abolishing the yearly limit and making the reimbursement scheme obligatory for all employers.
Finally, in Italy several cities are planning to use a national experimental program for sustainable commuting to pay their citizens to cycle to work or to their university. For example, the city of Bari in Southern Italy is planning to hand out ‘mobility vouchers' to employees and students that use their bike for their daily commute. These vouchers can then be used for the purchase of a new bike or for public transport card, for example.
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