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Are you a staff member in education and considering jumping on a bike via bike leasing? Good news! We've known for some time that teachers could enjoy bike leasing from now on, but there's more!
AGODI distributed a circular with more information about the Education Bicycle Plan.
What exactly does that entail? Well, here's what you need to know:
Flex budget: general budgetary rules
After the fall break, AGODI is launching a handy tool that allows you to simulate your flex budget.
With AGODI's tool , you know exactly what budget you have available for your leasing bike. So check first, and then you can order your ideal bike or simulate the options through the Joule portal, based on your budget.
An important tip: before the "referral period" - the period when leasing officially begins - begins, both your bike choice and available budget must be determined. Once this period begins, there is no way to adjust the budget for that year. For example, if your bike can't be delivered until April 1, 2025, you need to know by December 31, 2024, that you can only factor 9 of the 12 months of lease costs into your flex budget for that year. This only applies to the current year; however, you can adjust your budget again for future years.
For full conversion of your end-of-year allowance to a bicycle leasing flex budget, AGODI or AHOVOKS pays the leasing costs to the school board. On partial conversion, the remaining portion of the end-of-year allowance is paid net to you, and the leasing costs to the board.
Another important point: it is not possible to carry forward the balance of your flex budget to a subsequent lease year. For temporary or contract staff leaving teaching, however, there may be an effect if your gross annual salary falls below the pension cap during the lease period.
Flexbudget: the special cases
Do you ultimately decide not to lease a bike after all? No problem, your flex budget will then be converted into a premium. The premium is also subject to 13.07% social withholdings and the extraordinary withholding tax.
Depending on your status, there are different periods in which you can start your bicycle lease. For some staff members, the referral period begins on September 1; for others (who do not have deferred pay), it does not begin until January 1. The latter group can still apply for a bicycle lease in the first and second quarters of 2025.
Do you work for multiple school boards? Good news! You can use the full amount of your gross end-of-year allowance for bicycle leasing, even if not every board offers bicycle leasing.
Would you still like to read all the fine print? Here you can find the complete circular.
Are you a school board looking to jump on bikes and want to learn more about bike leasing? Just fill out the form below!
