Articles

Question Under the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act 1986 (Vic), authorities acquiring land from land owners for a capital works property are required to pay for any legal, valuation and other professional expenses necessarily incurred by the claimant by reason of the acquisition. However, the authorities are not required to pay for the GST component. […]

Where an employer pays/reimburses an employee’s road toll expenditure or allows the employee to use the employer’s electronic road toll tag, a fringe benefit may arise, depending on the particular usage of the vehicle. Payment/reimbursement of an employee’s road toll expenses is prima facie an expense payment fringe benefit. Use by an employee of an […]

Is provision of an in-house therapeutic massage for all employees an exempt fringe benefit? Question We are considering providing in-house therapeutic massage for all employees. Is this an exempt fringe benefit pursuant to the ‘work related preventative health care’ exemption? The preventative health care component will consist of: massage to reduce tightness in muscles and […]

Heads up, there may be some changes to remote area tax concessions and payments. The Productivity Commission has suggested reforms. The Productivity Commission has called for significant reforms to the tax concessions and payments to residents and businesses in remote Australia, so they are better targeted and fairer. The Commission was asked to review three […]

Does GST apply to payments that a developer makes to a Council in lieu of the developer being required to complete infrastructure works? Question The Council has entered into an arrangement whereby a developer will pay to Council an agreed amount in lieu of being required to complete infrastructure works. Under the arrangement, Council will […]

Relief from discrepancy in the FBT treatment of taxi travel and riding-sharing travel services is ‘in hand’. Long-standing readers of the TaxEd newsletter will be familiar with the tortuous history of ride-sharing travel services for tax purposes, especially in relation to FBT. Current treatment of ride-sharing travel services The nature of ride-sharing travel services, particularly […]

Does a fringe benefit arise where an employer pays for an employee’s annual Myki (public transportation) card on the basis that the employee will repay the amount interest-free over the next 12 monthly pay periods? Question We have paid for an employee’s annual Myki card pass on the basis the employee will repay us the […]

It is important to structure salary sacrificing arrangements to be beneficial to both the employer and employee. This often involves the employer passing on costs associated with providing the benefit. One of these costs is the luxury car adjustment. This article discusses whether this adjustment is relevant to income tax exempt employers and whether the […]

Question Councillors receive an allowance which is determined by each council within limits set by the Victorian Government. Mayors and councillor allowances are also subject to the addition of 9.5% superannuation. Is the allowance taxable to the mayor and councillors? Answer Any remuneration, sitting fee or allowance paid to a local government elected member is […]

If an employer gains public benevolent institution (PBI) status during the FBT year, do employees become eligible to use the full $30,000 FBT exemption cap in that year? In the June 2019 TaxEd Update, we considered the FBT implications of a public benevolent institution (PBI) that was previously entitled to the higher $30,000 FBT cap […]