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The June 2022 edition of the WA County Health Service -SW Regional Newsletter, published monthly, included an E-Bike promotion. Unfortunately Michaela, featured in the article, is a bit camera shy, but was happy share her thoughts on using an e-scooter for the daily commute to work.
Electric bikes (e-bikes) are like regular bikes but enable you to power up hills and push through headwind supported by an electric pedal assist engine. You can ride e-bikes on bikes lanes and shared pathways. Did you know you can salary package the purchase of an e-bike? They can now be offered on the same sort of novated lease as cars through an Australian start-up called E-stralian, which has obtained a ruling from the Australian Taxation Office to allow e-bikes to be a salary sacrifice item for riding to work.
Most car trips are 30 kilometres or less! E-bikes and cargo bikes are an ideal solution to replace cars in urban areas and with a novated leasing option, getting rid of your car or second car is easier and more affordable.
Employees taking up these leases should know that the full fringe benefit tax advantage is on the expectation that the rider will be using the bike primarily for commuting to work, and that “non-work-related use that is minor, infrequent and irregular”.
The precise conditions are determined by the Australian Taxation Office’s ruling CR2015/80.
As we are now coming into the winter months, now could be the time to start your research and take a deep dive into what e-bikes are all about to be ready for spring.
WACHS-SW Senior Project Officer for the Bunbury Hospital Redevelopment Michaela rides an e-scooter on a regular basis to and from work and has discovered multiple benefits. Some of things she enjoys the most are, seeing other people out exercising/travelling via alternative transport and feeling a sense of community, never having to worry about parking, and saving money on fuel. It provides a period of awareness and focus on your surroundings to start and end the day and helps with arriving fresh and leaving work behind at the end of the day. Michaela also describes the experience as “Satisfying knowing I’m doing all I can to live a low-carbon lifestyle”.
For more information on salary sacrificing e-bikes see details on the intranet.
This story is related to Salary packaging options for travel
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James (Your Move)
Welcome back to YM for 2022 Deb 😁. Thanks for sharing this news on salary sacrifice for e-bikes - it is great to hear that finally the ATO is catching up and that employees can now take advantage of this. Great too to hear Michaela's personal take on using an e-scooter. SW Health Campus has earned 60 points for embracing Salary packaging for e-bikes and 25 points for the promotion of active travel through the newsletter. You have also earned 20 points for sharing so many details in your story.
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