Being self-employed with a sole proprietorship also allows you to take advantage of a bicycle allowance. We explain below what you need to pay attention to, what type of travel qualifies and why a trip administration is crucial.
This kilometer allowance can also be used in addition to the purchase of an (electric) bike. You can therefore enter the purchase of an (electric) bike in your sole proprietorship’s accounts as well as a bicycle allowance.
Would you like to know more about the kilometer allowance for travel by car?
A bicycle allowance for all travel? 🚲
You can use this bicycle allowance for all types of travel related to your self-employed activity. Trips by (electric) bike to your office, customer, supplier,… all qualify for the bicycle allowance.
It doesn’t need to be the shortest route either! Choosing a route that is safer than the shortest possible route is allowed and fully counts for the bicycle allowance.
Combined routes are possible as well, for example cycling to the train station and then taking the train to the office. These biked kilometers also qualify.
How can you keep track of these cycled kilometers?
You will have to prove the cycled kilometers based on a trip administration in case of a tax audit. This can be done via a (written) driver’s logbook, software program, GPS system,…
But make sure you do have a trip administration to prove these kilometers.
A calculation example 🧮
Suppose Danny rides his electric bike to the office 3 times a week. A nice ride of 7 kilometers there and 7 kilometers back. That’s not the shortest, but it is the safest route.
Danny works 45 weeks a year, cycles 3 times a week, 14 kilometers a day. This allows him to prove through trip administration that he has cycled 1,890 kilometers in the context of his self-employment.
At €0.27 per kilometer (for income year 2023), this results in €510.33. Danny may enter this amount as an additional cost in the accounts of his sole proprietorship.
For income year 2024, the bicycle allowance even amounts to €0.35 per cycled kilometer.
How to process a bicycle allowance in Dexxter?
You can enter it as a regular expense. The file in which you keep track of your kilometers can be used immediately as a file to register the expense in Dexxter.
You can upload it in Dexxter and then link all the necessary information to it. For example, your supplier may be a private individual that you name “Bicycle allowance”. Recording in the VAT return is not necessary for this kilometer allowance.
Under the amounts, you then enter the total amount of the allowance and create a new cost category under the main category “General expenses”. You give this new cost category the name “Bicycle allowance”, for example.
You can set the percentage of professional use to 100%. Finally, complete the steps and enter the expense.
