Corporate bicycle platform Hellorider has enlisted the services of Jan Rolleman of consulting firm AMD automotive fiscalisten B.V., which specialises in car-related tax issues. Rolleman, who is also the creator of the website autoenfiscus.nl, will be helping Hellorider to field questions from employers about the new bicycle leasing scheme which took effect in the Netherlands at the start of this year. Experience has shown that this ostensibly straightforward scheme often requires specialised tax solutions.
Dutch tax regulations for bicycle leasing for businesses were greatly simplified with effect from January of this year. Under the amended regulations, employers can provide their employees with bicycles independently of the Expense Allowance Scheme (werkkostenregeling/WKR). The new regulations provide that employees must pay a 7% additional charge on the bicycle’s tax value, eliminating the need for detailed mileage logs. If the scheme is implemented as intended, it will have no impact on the employer’s budget, and the additional funds available under the Expense Allowance Scheme can then be allocated to other employee benefits.
It has since been revealed that this seemingly straightforward additional tax liability scheme has nevertheless raised numerous questions among many HR professionals. Hellorider CEO Davy Louwers: ‘We are aware that our partners – vehicle leasing companies – regularly receive questions from employers about implementing a bicycle leasing scheme for employees. They need particulars that are not covered in the otherwise solid information already provided by Hellorider; they’re looking for external validation of the solution they have chosen, which they can use for their own employees and in their dealings with the tax authorities.’
Expert in vehicle and bicycle leasing
According to Marjolein Hoogendijk, Hellorider’s Head of Business Development, Rolleman is known as the leading expert on car-related and bicycle-related tax regulations in the Netherlands, with unparalleled expertise in the tax implications of car and bicycle leasing. ‘Jan Rolleman has been a familiar face in the world of vehicle leasing for many years, and we are confident that his knowhow and expertise will help us to provide even better support to our customers. I mean that both now and in the future, as we intend to share completed cases related to taxation and implementation on our platform in an anonymised format, so that other companies will get to benefit as well.’
Bicycle leasing is experiencing a surge in popularity in the Netherlands. A survey conducted by Hellorider reveals that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 20% of people with a history of using public transport currently regard the bicycle as the safest mode of transport for commuting to and from work. Demand among employees for attractive bicycle leasing solutions is therefore on the rise, and employers are eager to accommodate this demand.
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