Can you use cycle to work if you are self-employed?
No. The scheme is a tax exemption for employees, and a sole trader or partner has no employer to hire them a bike. What the tax rules do allow, for a bike used in a business, is narrower than most people hope.
Why the scheme is closed to you
The cycle to work exemption sits in the tax rules for employment income. It covers cycles an employer makes available generally to its employees. Without an employer there is nobody to own the bike, nobody to hire it to you, and no salary to sacrifice.
If you trade through a limited company
Then it is different. If you trade through your own limited company, the company is your employer and can provide you with a bike. The rules, and the fact that the exemption does not even need a salary sacrifice, are on the single-director company page.
A bike used in your business
The business share of a bike used for business journeys can be an allowable expense, but you cannot claim for travel between home and work. GOV.UK lists "travel between home and work" among the things the self-employed cannot claim.
HMRC's manual explains why. To be allowable an expense must have been incurred "wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade", and the costs of travel to and from home and a place of work are not allowable where one of the purposes is to let the trader live away from where they work. There are exceptions. HMRC recognises "itinerant trades", such as a self-employed travelling sales representative, where home to work travel may be solely for the trade, and the position can differ where your base of operations is genuinely at home.
One thing that does not apply: HMRC's flat-rate simplified expenses for mileage are listed for cars, vans and motorcycles. Bicycles are not on that list.
In short
| Route | Open to you? |
|---|---|
| Cycle to work salary sacrifice | No |
| Your own limited company providing you with a bike | Yes, if you trade through a company |
| Claiming a bike used for business | The business share, never the commute |
Where the line falls for your trade is a question for your accountant. Nothing on this page is tax advice.
Sources
Checked .