Salary sacrifice scheme
Just found out that here at work, they're setting up one of those 'salary sacrifice' schemes where you sacrifice some of your, erm, salary to pay for discounted equipment tax free.
Apple are included in their scheme. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a decent deal on an imac
Apple are included in their scheme. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to get a decent deal on an imac
Comments
Just got the leaflet through...
They reckon the RRP of the iBook 14" standard package (superdrive/60GB/512MB) is ... £1,491.61
That's US$2593.78 at today's price.
So, after the saving, that's a cost of £1,063 ($1,848) basic or £920 ($1,600) higher rate... whatever that might be.
I don't know how the hell they say that people are going to make a saving on this....
If you are a basic rate tax payer you will save less on the package.
The way the salary sacrifice schemes work is the company takes the money out of your pay-packet before the government takes the tax. I.e you pay tax on less than the whole of your paypacket so the higher rate of tax you pay the more you save through a scheme like this.
managed to find out a bit more info on this... although, after reading it, the cost is a little bit lower, I've actually found out that it's a HIRE scheme, where you technically hire the equipment for three years, then pay "the current market value" of the item at the end of the three years, if you want to keep it... and that's on TOP of the original cost :-|
I think, overall these schemes are not really worth it.
In England, educational establishments and students get the VAT off the cost of a new Apple as far as I know.....17.5% is a lot compared to the salary scheme mentioned. And bear in mind, England isn't the cheapest place to buy anything even English tea - the Bostonians made sure of that.
Though I dont' see how Bostonians fit into your theory.
The whole thing about having to give it back is crap. I'm dissapointed by this system.
Though I dont' see how Bostonians fit into your theory.
Err?? Boston Tea Party? English taxation rules?
You clearly don't live and suffer in this island. Have a look at its history:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/teaparty/bostonxx.htm
Originally posted by Justin
That sounds really strange.
In England, educational establishments and students get the VAT off the cost of a new Apple as far as I know.....17.5% is a lot compared to the salary scheme mentioned. And bear in mind, England isn't the cheapest place to buy anything even English tea - the Bostonians made sure of that.
Yes, we do get a discount on Apple parts already, which is what made me even more confused about the entire scheme. But it's not quite the full value of tax - I got about 11-12% off the Mac Mini that I bought. - £448.85 instead of the retail price of £499. Not 17.5%, but a reasonable amount nonetheless
When the period is up, pay off the balance and punt your purchase on Ebay ? before starting all over again.
Cheap as chips way of running 'current' hardware.
If you're in the UK, go to PC World and purchase what you want on interest free credit.
Eeeewww. PC World. Warehouse attitude with wholesale ignorance. Some friends have had brilliant experiences there which is why I went.
Now I only go to dedicated Apple stores. No need to sort through all that PC riff-raff
Originally posted by Justin
Err?? Boston Tea Party? English taxation rules?
You clearly don't live and suffer in this island. Have a look at its history:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/teaparty/bostonxx.htm
I didn't understand how Bostonians boycotting tea from the West Indies (albeit English) would drive up the taxes? Yup, still don't get it.
Originally posted by Justin
Eeeewww. PC World. Warehouse attitude with wholesale ignorance. Some friends have had brilliant experiences there which is why I went.
Now I only go to dedicated Apple stores. No need to sort through all that PC riff-raff
Yeah, you're right there. You need to now exactly what you are looking for.
If you need advice forget it. I remember a PC World sales assistant insisting (oh now there's a good one - maybe PC World staff should be called Sales Insistants... hehehe) that Jaguar wasn't released in the UK because Jaguar the car manufacturer objected to the name - he claimed that in the UK 10.2 was actually marketed under the name 'Panther'. He couldn't tell me what 10.3 was marketed as.
But if you want a Power Mac Quad, and you want to pay it up over 12 months (interest free) you won't find any other retailer... most only offer six months at best...