FBT Q&A ‘ Salary Sacrifice for cost of skin checks

Question:

We would like to know that staff can salary sacrifice the payment that they pay for skin checks?

Answer:

Staff can salary sacrifice any expense item which they incur, provided the employer agrees to it and the benefit is sacrificed from prospective salary (i.e. salary yet to be earned).

The real issue here is whether the skin checks attract FBT. It is likely the expenditure could qualify for exemption as work related medical screening/preventative health care – refer section 58M FBTAA.

For this exemption to apply the following general conditions must be met:

1. The benefit is an expense payment benefit, a property benefit or a residual benefit;
2. Work-related preventative health care is provided to the employee;
3. The purpose of the preventative health care must be wholly or principally to prevent the employee from suffering work-related trauma; and
4. The preventative health care must be made available to all employees at risk of suffering work-related trauma.

We would need you to provide further information addressing the above criteria in order to ascertain with more certainty whether the exemption is available.

Another possibility, provided the cost is less than $300, is the minor benefit exemption, particularly if the test is a once a year screening.

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