Bike leasing as employer

You can offer company bicycle leasing in your company as an employee benefit. With Lease a Bike you enable your employees to quickly and easily lease their dream bike. Thanks to wage conversion, the wish wheel is paid monthly via the gross salary and your employees save on social security contributions and taxes. As an employer, you benefit from stronger employee loyalty and healthier employees, for example. You also contribute to sustainable mobility. You can also find more information here.

Since 2012, the company car principle has also been applied to bicycles and e-bikes. Company bike leasing increases productivity, promotes health and has been proven to reduce employee sick days. As an employer, you can implement the offer free of charge and risk.

The advantageous salary conversion and the comprehensive all-round protection make the concept of bike leasing interesting for both employers and employees, thereby enhancing the company's image. Company bicycle leasing is now the most popular benefit for employees. Other benefits include reduced turnover, increased employee satisfaction and a positive contribution to the company's environmental footprint.

With Lease a Bike you also benefit from an extra portion of customer service. We are here to help you with the implementation and all questions related to e-bike and bicycle leasing with our first-class customer service. From a personalised online portal to personal on-site support. Find out more about the benefits for your company here.

Read more about how employee benefits such as bicycle leasing can strengthen your company's employer brand: Visibility thanks to bicycle leasing: Seven marketing ideas for companies.

To understand salary conversion, the following terms are important. This makes salary conversion and payroll processing easier to understand at a glance.

• Lease Agreement – The supplementary agreement to the employment contract

The important document between the employee and the employer regarding the provision of the company bike, which sets out the terms and conditions of the provision. This is either signed digitally by both parties via the Lease a Bike portal, or presented to the employee by the employer in another form for signature. Typical contents of the lease agreement include, in addition to the conversion rate, e.g., authorization to pick up the bike from the dealer, instructions on how to handle the company bike, and requirements regarding its condition upon return.

• Salary conversion (also: deferred compensation)

Instead of purchasing the bicycle privately with already taxed net income, the employer deducts the monthly payment directly from the employee’s gross salary (known as salary or compensation conversion). Because this reduces taxable income (gross salary), the employee automatically saves on taxes and social security contributions each month.

• Lease payment

The lease payment is the monthly gross or net amount specified in the lease agreement. Which amount applies to the employee depends on the employer’s tax situation. Our Lease a Bike portal automatically selects the correct option for the employee in the background. Important: This is not the amount that represents the employee’s out-of-pocket cost—that amount (the actual net cost) is lower thanks to tax savings. For employees, the leasing calculator provides a good basis for calculating the individual benefit. If the company offers its own Lease a Bike landing page for company bike leasing, it is mandatory to use the calculator provided there.

• Comprehensive Protection Package

This monthly payment protects the employee from costs associated with theft, damage, or wear and tear, and includes one inspection per lease year. It is deducted directly from the employee’s gross salary along with the lease payment, allowing the employee to benefit from the tax advantage.

• Conversion Rate

This is the total amount (consisting of the lease payment and the selected All-Around Protection Package) by which the gross salary is reduced each month. Important: This is not the amount representing the employee’s share—this (the actual net cost) is lower thanks to the tax savings. For employees, the leasing calculator provides a good basis for calculating the individual benefit. If the company offers its own Lease a Bike landing page for company bike leasing, it is mandatory to use the calculator provided there.

• Employer Subsidy

The employer has the option to provide a subsidy for the company bike lease. This voluntary benefit reduces the monthly conversion rate, resulting in even greater tax savings. This subsidy is not included in the conversion rate specified in the lease agreement.

• Taxation of the Non-Cash Benefit

Since the employee is permitted to use the company bicycle for private purposes without restriction, the tax office considers this a taxable benefit (similar to an additional salary bonus). This “benefit” is calculated as follows: A flat rate of 1% of one-quarter of the bicycle’s gross list price (MSRP), rounded down to the nearest €100. Simply put: 0.25% of the bike’s gross list price, rounded down to the nearest whole euro. Example:

This amount of €9.00 is added to your pay stub for tax calculation purposes and then deducted again. This is the calculation required by the tax office and is not an additional fee!

With company bike leasing, the employee simply pays for the bike of their choice through their monthly gross salary. This means that a portion of the salary is not paid out in cash but is used directly to cover the lease payment and comprehensive coverage.

The major advantage: Because this amount is deducted directly from the gross salary, taxable income is reduced. The employee therefore pays less in taxes and social security contributions. The actual monthly net amount deposited into the bank account is ultimately lower than the conversion rate specified in the lease agreement. This results in savings compared to a cash purchase.

A simplified sample calculation

(Based on a gross list price of the bicycle of €3,999.00, the “All-inclusive” comprehensive protection package (to be paid by the employee), tax bracket 1, no children, subject to church tax)

This non-binding sample calculation illustrates how salary conversion can affect your income step by step.

Important: Employees can determine their personal benefit in seconds using our leasing calculator. If the company offers its own Lease a Bike landing page for company bike leasing, it is mandatory to use the calculator provided there.

For comparison with an employer subsidy:

Original net salary (without bike): €2,026.87

New net salary (with bike and employer subsidy): €1,949.76

Actual monthly cost of the bike: €77.11 (not the conversion rate of €149.03)

Costs over a 36-month term: €2,775.96 (including our top “All-inclusive” comprehensive protection package)

Direct purchase: €3,999.00 (excluding any wear and tear, maintenance, and insurance costs)

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For comparison, without an employer subsidy:

The original net salary (without the bike): €2,026.87

The new net salary (with bike, without employer contribution): €1,941.54

The actual monthly cost for the bike: €85.33 (not the conversion rate of €149.03)

Costs over a 36-month term: €3,071.88 (including our top “All-inclusive” comprehensive protection package)

Direct purchase: €3,999.00 (excluding any wear and tear, maintenance, and insurance services)

As an employer you would like to offer bike leasing as an employee benefit? No problem! With Lease a Bike, your employees can quickly and easily lease their dream bike. Thanks to wage conversion, the wish wheel is paid monthly via the gross salary and your employees save on social security contributions and taxes.

And that’s how you register as an employer for bike leasing with Lease a Bike.

• Register

Fill out the registration form for our bike leasing concept in just 5 minutes. We will then carry out a credit check of your company. After successful examination, you will be granted access to our online portal.

• Portal setup

You define the company policies in the online portal. How much can the purchase price of the bike be? How many bikes can be leased per employee? You will then share your individual registration link with your employees. The registration for the bike leasing of your company is completely digital.

• Approval

Every employee registration is checked by you and approved for bike leasing. This is done with just one click and your employee automatically receives an individual order code for the service bike order at the local bicycle specialist shop. The rest is done automatically via the digital portal.

• Administration

A real-time export from our digital portal provides you with all the necessary information you need for the internal handling of bike leasing in your company and for your payroll.

Register now or get your free info package about bike leasing.

Get started with bike leasing as an employer in just four steps thanks to our digital portal!

Minimal effort is also guaranteed following your registration: All it takes is one click to activate the employee's bike order in the Lease a Bike portal. It is also only necessary to enter the data for the salary conversion once at the start of the contract. In addition, incidents such as long-term illness or parental leave can also be reported via the Lease a Bike portal with just a few clicks.

In the event of theft or damage, you as the employer have no work to do, as the employees clarify the matter completely themselves with our specialist retail partners and Lease a Bike. In addition, you also have no workload at the regular end of the contract, as Lease a Bike coordinates the further procedure exclusively with the employees. Only in exceptional cases, if the employee cannot be reached by phone or email despite several attempts, will you as the employer be called in to help.

This way, you benefit from minimum effort and maximum benefit!

In principle, all permanent employees can lease company bikes. However, who is allowed to lease a company bike is determined by you as the employer and can therefore be limited to certain employment relationships. Bike leasing for mini-jobs, for example, is usually not possible.

The term of contracts for company bikes is generally 36 months.

The implementation of company wheel leasing is cost-neutral. As an employer, you can make use of our payment protection in the event of continued salary payments being discontinued. This happens, for example, if employees are ill for longer than 42 days and receive sick pay or go on parental leave. Lease a Bike takes over the leasing installments for a maximum period of 12 months, but only if the leasing contract has already been running for 6 months. In any case, we will always work with you to find the best solution - right up to the individual, cost-neutral return of the company bike for you as the employer.

As a rule, employees lease via deferred compensation. A small portion of the gross salary is withheld as a leasing installment. This "remuneration in kind" must be taxed monthly at 0.25% of the gross list price. This does not incur any costs for the company.

As an employer, you can reduce the monthly conversion rate with a voluntary subsidy, for example through the fair amount. When the fair amount is applied, employer-side savings in social insurance that arise from deferred compensation are passed on to the employees, so that their savings from leasing are even higher than with classic deferred compensation.

You can also pass the company bike on to employees as a salary bonus, in which case you pay the monthly leasing installments. In this case, employees do not have to pay tax on the non-cash benefit for private use.

• Three months before the end of the leasing contract, employees will receive an e-mail informing them of the end of the leasing period. In addition, we will check in good time before the end of the leasing contract whether it is possible to make your employees an offer to purchase the company bike. If this is the case, your employees will receive such a purchase offer from us by e-mail at least three months before the end of your leasing contract.

• After accepting the purchase offer, employees receive an invoice on which the taxation of the monetary benefit arising from the purchase is confirmed in accordance with EStG §37b para. 1 with takeover by us (flat-rate taxation by third parties).

• Employees can pay the purchase price by direct debit, Klarna Pay Now, Sofort Überweisung, credit card and PayPal. At the end of the leasing contract, ownership of the bike is transferred to you.

• Your company will receive an annual overview of all bikes taken over and the corresponding proof of the transfer of the non-cash benefit in accordance with EStG §37b para. 1.

If you do not wish to purchase the bike, we can arrange for it to be collected from the user or the company.

You can make use of our installment loss protection in the event of continued salary payments being discontinued.

This happens, for example, if employees are ill for longer than 42 days and receive sick pay or go on parental leave. Lease a Bike takes over the leasing installments for a maximum period of 12 months, provided the leasing contract has already been running for 6 months.

In any case, we will always work with you to find the best solution - right up to the individual, cost-neutral return of the company bike for you as the employer, unless one of the following options is possible.

These can be:

• Change of user: You offer the company bike to another employee for the remaining term of the contract and take all necessary internal measures (e.g. supplementary agreements to the employment contract, handover of the company bike).

• Premature termination of the existing leasing contract by mutual agreement for important economic reasons with possible takeover of the used company bike by the employee. The employee also has the option of financing the purchase price via our FINANCE A BIKE product.

• In the event of a change of company, the existing leasing contract can be transferred to a new company. After a credit check, the contract will be continued by the new company with all rights and obligations and the company bike will continue to be provided to the employee for the remaining term.

Company managers can submit a request for the above options via the Lease a Bike portal.

If one of your employees leaves the company and has a Lease a Bike company bike, we offer you the following options.

• Contract transfer of the company bike to a new employee:

You can offer the remaining company bike to another employee for the remainder of the leasing term. As the employer, you take all the necessary internal measures (e.g. supplementary agreements to the employment contract, handover of the company bike, etc.) and ensure that the new user is registered in the Lease a Bike portal. Lease a Bike takes care of the name transfer. The transfer is free of charge.

• Early termination of the leasing contract:

The employee or you as the employer have the option of buying the leased asset out of the leasing contract. Ownership of the leased asset is transferred after purchase. The employee also has the option of financing the redemption amount via the FINANCE A BIKE product. This requires online banking access and a valid identity card with German citizenship.

• Transfer of the leasing contract to the new company:

Subject to a credit check, the leasing object is contractually transferred to the new company. The new employer now has the option of converting the existing leasing contract into a salary conversion and continuing to provide the employee with the leased object as a company bike. The prerequisite for this is a declaration of consent from the new company and registration with Lease a Bike. The transfer is free of charge.

Company managers can submit a request for the above options via the Lease a Bike portal.

The all-round protection package consists of one option each for theft and damage protection, an inspection option and a wear and tear budget option. Users select the options according to their individual requirements and can combine the different variants with each other to configure their individual all-round protection package.

The following options are available as standard:

• Theft and damage protection: Premium or All-inclusive
• Inspection: Basic, Premium or All-inclusive
• Wear and tear: Basic, Premium or All-inclusive

Example: If the user selects the all-inclusive option for theft and damage protection, they do not necessarily always have to take the all-inclusive option, but can also combine the basic inspection option with the premium wear and tear option, for example.

The user selects one option each for theft & damage protection (incl. free Europe-wide mobility guarantee), inspection and wear and tear and thus configures the all-round protection package according to their individual requirements. Accordingly, each all-round protection package includes theft and damage protection as well as a budget for inspection and wear and tear.

Our theft & damage cover includes all sudden and unforeseeable damage or destruction to the leased object, e.g. due to:

• theft, burglary or robbery
• operating errors
• Simple negligence
• accidental damage
• vandalism
• Design, material or workmanship defects
• Overvoltage, induction or implosion
• Storm, frost, ice, earthquake or flooding
• Damage to the motor or battery

Please note which theft and damage protection option the user has chosen: If the user has selected the all-inclusive option for theft and damage protection as part of the all-round cover, the new value insurance applies. The Lease a Bike company bike is then insured against theft around the clock if the company bike was locked. It will be replaced at replacement value and an object exchange will be made in the existing contract. As a rule, it is not necessary to terminate the existing contract.

If the user has selected the premium option for theft and damage protection as part of the all-round cover, the current value insurance comes into effect. The Lease a Bike company bike is then insured against theft around the clock if the company bike was locked. However, the leasing contract is then terminated and the bike is not replaced.

The company bike and company car can also be used at the same time. The 1% method then applies to both the company bike and the car.

In contrast to the company car, employees do not have to pay tax of 0.03 percent per kilometer for the journey to work.

Electric bicycles with a motor that provides assistance at more than 25 km per hour are classified as motor vehicles under traffic law and the non-cash benefit is assessed in the same way as for a company car.

Note: For company bicycles, the assessment basis for the taxable non-cash benefit is quartered and rounded down to the nearest hundred. This corresponds to 0.25% taxation.

The commuting allowance for journeys between home and work is generally to be granted at € 0.30/km regardless of the means of transportation (Section 9 (1) No. 4 EstG).

The leasing installments for company bicycles are considered business expenses for business management purposes. This means that companies entitled to deduct input tax can deduct the VAT included from the conversion rate. The employees then convert the net leasing installments, resulting in even greater savings.

Companies that are not entitled to deduct input tax, on the other hand, convert the leasing installment including VAT, so that the savings for the employees are somewhat lower.