Commuters in Galway can save themselves up to 52 per cent on the cost of point to point annual/yearly and monthly Bus Éireann tickets and also Galway city bus tickets with the Taxsaver Commuter Ticket.
At a time when saving money is imperative for everyone, the Taxsaver commuter ticket from Bus Éireann enables companies to help employees substantially reduce their travel costs – in many cases by hundreds of euro.
For example, a person commuting from Galway to Oughterard whose annual/yearly Bus Éireann ticket usually costs €2,184 would benefit from savings of between approximately €1, 135 and €677 on the overall cost of their ticket depending on their tax status. On a Galway city monthly bus ticket it usually costs €55 but customers would benefit from a savings of approximately €28.60 and €17.00 on the overall cost of their ticket depending on their tax status.
Under Taxsaver from Bus Éireann, employers can purchase monthly, flexible part-yearly (tickets covering from two to 10 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 Universal Social Charge (USC ), if the employees are paying the top rate of tax, 41 per cent, then this, along with the four per cent they pay in PRSI and the seven per cent they pay in the USC, is deducted from the cost of the ticket giving a total saving of 52 per cent.
If the employees are on the lower tax band, ie 20 per cent, then they will achieve a saving of up to 31 per cent (20 per cent tax, four per cent PRSI, seven per cent USC ) on the cost of a Bus Éireann monthly, annual or city bus ticket.
Reminding people to apply for the scheme this year, Minister for Public and Commuter Transport, Alan Kelly, is urging customers to full advantage of the opportunity to save money.
Speaking today, Minister Kelly said: “My Department is working hard to encourage more and more people out of the car and on to public transport as a fast, reliable, hassle-free, inexpensive way to make journeys. Particularly for commuters, schemes such as Taxsaver just make sense. You can save money and don’t have the hassle of parking charges, searching for change, queuing for tickets or the cost of fuel. I encourage anyone travelling regularly on commuter or other routes to examine the Taxsaver scheme; financially it has real benefits and it makes public transport very attractive.”
“At a time when reducing costs is critical for many people, Taxsaver enables commuters in Galway to potentially save hundreds of euro. We want to encourage people to see the benefits of getting the bus to work by sitting back, relaxing and not worrying about fuel costs,” 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 seven 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 at www.taxsaver.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 city tickets (Galway, Cork, Waterford and Limerick ) are valid for unlimited travel. The Taxsaver Scheme can be joined at any time of the year.
For more information on the Taxsaver Scheme check out the website - www.taxsaver.ie, email [email protected] or by calling (01 ) 703 3435. Tax briefings are available at www.revenue.ie
