Commuters Can Cut Travel Costs by Hundreds of Euro with Bus Éireann Taxsaver Ticket

Commuters can save themselves up to 51 per cent on the cost of annual/yearly, part-yearly and monthly Bus Éireann tickets with the Taxsaver Commuter Ticket.

At a time of tight personal budgets, the Taxsaver Commuter Ticket from Bus Éireann enables companies to help employees substantially reduce their travel costs – in many cases by hundreds of euro.

Under Taxsaver from Bus Éireann, employers can purchase monthly, flexible part-yearly (tickets covering from two to ten months of travel) and annual/yearly bus tickets on behalf of their employees with the cost of the ticket deducted from the employees’ weekly or monthly salaries. Employers who take part in the programme benefit from a PRSI saving of up to 10.75 per cent.

Since Taxsaver Commuter Tickets are not subject to Tax, PRSI or Income Levy, if the employee is paying the top rate of tax, 41 per cent, then this, along with the eight per cent they pay in PRSI and the two per cent they pay in the income levy, is deducted from the cost of the ticket giving a total saving of 51 per cent.

If the employee is on the lower tax band, i.e. 20 per cent, then they will achieve a saving of up to 30 per cent (20 per cent tax, eight per cent PRSI, two per cent income levy) on the cost of their Bus Éireann monthly, part-yearly or annual ticket.

Examples of savings from having a Bus Éireann Taxsaver Commuter Ticket:

A person commuting from Gort to Galway whose annual/yearly Bus Éireann ticket usually costs €2,376 would benefit from savings of between approximately €1,210 and €710 on the overall cost of their ticket depending on their tax status.

Someone travelling daily from Drogheda to Dublin whose annual/yearly Bus Éireann ticket usually costs €1,920 would benefit from savings of between approximately €979 and €576 depending on their tax status.

While a person commuting from Youghal to Cork whose monthly Bus Éireann ticket usually costs €204 would benefit from savings of between approximately €101 and €61 per month depending on their tax status.

In addition, employees who use an annual Taxsaver Commuter Ticket from Bus Éireann also receive a month of free travel i.e. they only pay the fare for 48 weeks of travel.

“At a time when reducing their costs is critical for many people, Taxsaver enables commuters to potentially save hundreds of euro. While people who switch from the car to the bus to get to work benefit from even greater savings through reduced fuel bills and no parking charges,” said Andrew McLindon, Media and PR Manager, Bus Éireann.

Other benefits for employees using the Taxsaver Commuter Ticket are:

- Journeys are cheaper using pre-paid tickets than with cash

- Less queuing with a pre-paid ticket

- Unlimited 7 day point-to-point travel

- The convenience of receiving travel passes in the workplace.

Employers also benefit from adopting the Taxsaver scheme. Not only can they make PRSI savings of up to 10.75 per cent of the total ticket cost for all employees, but the scheme is a low cost employee benefit, can be used as a recruiting tool, and can help free up and/or reduce the cost of parking spaces.

Employers can register for the Taxsaver Scheme by e-mailing taxsaver@buseireann.ie.

Adoption of the Taxsaver Scheme by employers and employees also has a number of community benefits. It can help reduce traffic congestion by encouraging people to switch from the car to the bus and this has the added benefit of lowering carbon emissions.

Taxsaver Tickets are valid for unlimited travel between two designated points on the Bus Éireann network. The Taxsaver Scheme can be joined at any time of the year.

Further information on the Taxsaver Scheme is available from www.taxsaver.ie or by calling 01 703 3435. Tax briefings are available at www.revenue.ie.

Tuesday, 9th November, 2010