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TaxSmart travel card

TaxSmart is the name of Translink’s annual bus travel card available through an employer salary sacrifice scheme (where an employee agrees to give up a sum money from their pay packet in return for some form of non-cash benefit). This travel card was developed with the support of the Travelwise team in the Department for Regional Development.

In the interests of greener transport, your employer wants to encourage you to use bus services to travel to and from work, rather than using less environmentally-friendly methods of transport such as a private car.

With TaxSmart you save money on Income Tax and National Insurance contributions by paying for your bus travel directly from your salary. You can save up to 31 per cent* on your annual bus travel. This is an additional discount on top of the significant savings already available to customers who purchase Translink annual bus travel cards outside the TaxSmart scheme.

TaxSmart is initially available to employees of Belfast City Council and Allstate only. Translink will be rolling-out the TaxSmart Scheme to other employers in Northern Ireland during 2010.

*The exact saving to you depends on your personal circumstances and can only be taken as an example of the potential saving. If you are a higher rate taxpayer you could save even more.

What are the benefits?

Some of the benefits include:

  • there are no restrictions on the number of journeys you can make
  • you spread the cost of your TaxSmart card over a year with 12 monthly deductions direct from your salary. Weekly or fortnightly deductions may also be possible depending on how often you are paid
  • if you lose your TaxSmart card it can be ‘hotlisted’ (electronically deactivated) to prevent anyone else from using it fraudulently
  • ability to take the bus and avail of a quick and stress free way to get to and from work without having to pay for car parking
  • helps your company reduce its overall carbon footprint by encouraging employees to leave the car behind and commute to and from work by public transport

To find out more

Find out more about TaxSmart including details on eligibility, and the types of cards that are available. You will shortly also be able to register your interest and request an information pack.

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