WIBU to buy dh a £900 present through a salary sacrifice scheme at my work?

[user1473509591]

I can afford the monthly payments easily, and luckily i'm salaried. But my only issue is you pay it back over 36 months, and theres a part of me that thinks what if? what if I lose my job and I have to pay this back in one go?
It would be a huge help to my dh, he's wanted it for ages and it would be great for his work.

WWYD?

£900?

A - what is it?
B - would he do the same for you/has he given you presents of this value before?

Is it a bike?

iPad? Laptop? My work offers these sort of schemes too. I think I'd do it as long as I knew I was going to be there long term.

If it's anything like the things on salary sacrifice where I work, the stuff work out much more expensive.

If whatever you buy is for him rather than you you could find yourself (and your employer) in trouble with HMRC down the line as salary sacrifice means you pay no tax and NI on that payment each month and if it's not for you it doesn't meet the criteria!

Personally I wouldn't, unless you have sufficient to pay it off in a lump sum should you leave/lose your job. I cannot ever imagine spending that on a present but it may be normal for you. I would definitely check on the interest rate you will be charged over three years.

Perhaps also check other stockists and prices. What is it you want to buy?

It's a Microsoft Surface Pro. No definately don't usually spend this much on presents, have price compared and it's not too much more expensive than getting it from Amazon! But would never be able to afford it in a lump sum. My job is secure and I have no plans to leave but you never know do you? Think that's why its making me so nervous 😂

And I looked through the FAQs and it says you can buy for other people :)

I would - why not! You will know you have purchased it so, if your worried, put a little cash away each month so that you could pay it off in one go if the worst happened. Once it's paid off through the scheme (if all goes well) you will have some money put aside for something else! :)

Just buy it. And whilst your at it and if you can afford it, put a little aside each month just in case you do leave your job and that way, you'all have money towards it if that happens or a great fund at the end.

I did it last year to get iPad. I don't miss the money.

I would. DP got my laptop through work and got it substantially cheaper as the salary sacrifice comes off before tax, so the actual amount missing from his take-home pay is less.

Don't do it!! We've had to return 2 faulty ones, different faults but both common ones. Tried contacting Microsoft who were beyond useless and they ended up hanging up on us!!!!! DP works high up in IT and questioned their methods for 'fixing it' so they hung up. In the end John Lewis refunded us.

If you do do it, its another thing for them to factor in if the want you to leave..as then they can't guarantee the payments the power is with you as they would have to agree mutually a payment plan.

a £900 present though might be a mutual decision..if it essentially 'a computer' need might be met by less when it actually comes to it.. so don't want to advuse either way ...

I would not do it purely because £900 is an awful lot of money for a present! Does he get you gifts on equivalent value?..

Be careful and check the new tax changes first. The last update I read basically stopped anything apart from childcare and pension from having a tax breaks through salary schemes so you might get hit with a huge BIK (Benefit In Kind) tax bill.

I think I'd either
A- leave it or
B- pay it off in bigger chunks, ie over a year or 18 months if thats possible, financially and with the agreement?
I'd never feel comfortable taking out such a long term loan, from anyone.

For one of those I would go for it :) Nice gift :D

I think it will be a taxable benefit - if you take that into account is it still a good price?

These things can really cocktail up your pension cotributions I've been told, by someone clever and adult who u derating fs this stuff, ulike me.

Yes, your pension contributions can be based on your salary after sacrifice and also any earnings related benefit will be affected.

However, given the value over 36 months this may make little difference to you (or it might who knows)

I hate surface pros. Sure they look good, but they are a complete sealed unit (no screws, cannot be opened). The battery will run down so it won't hold charge in one to two years and it can't be replaced. If you drop it, Microsoft will not - as far as I know - replace the glass; It will be a replacement unit. So bye-bye harddrive. Also if the harddrive fails you can't easily remove it and slave it off to recover data. If you do get one, don't count on it lasting years and do backup data religiously.

By way of background, I work on an IT helpdesk and in the company we have a variety of HP laptops and Surface Pros. We now only let people order a surface pro after we have had a discussion with them about the problems - most people then go for one of the other devices!

Wow 4yoni, thankyou for the review! Can you recommend anything else? '

If he doesn't need one now, why don't you save up until you can afford one.

Why don't you just put away £25 a month and in 3 years buy him one (or whatever the equivalent is in 3 years). If you put it in a savings account you might even get a few pennies interest (I know, wishful thinking)

I use a MS SP4 at work and I love it.

It's lightweight, looks good and does everything my former laptop did. The keyboard action is great.

You can get an AV Adapter that you plug into the USB and HDMI sockets on your TV and it wirelessly connects the content of your screen - great for viewing photos/videos at home or presentations at work.

I love the pen - combined with the above you can use the tablet section as a whiteboard and then save the output. Also great for keeping the kids quiet with a drawing app .

The only downside is the limited number of apps available from the MS store. Far, far less than you can get for Apple or Android devices. If apps are a big thing for you then I'd probably think twice or check if your favourites are available.

I wouldn't worry too much about the battery and hard drive TBH. Pretty much anything you get in tech land will be out of date in a few years these days. Just a fact of life.

We've ordered a lot of them at work and everyone who has one likes it (apart from the Apple zealots who wouldn't touch one with a barge pole ). No reliability issues so far (also work in IT).