Articles

Unless an employee is solely a ‘work from home’ employee, then travel to and from work is a necessity of working life. Many employees catch public transport to and from work to avoid the expense and traffic involved with driving. If an employer has employees who regularly commute to and from work by bus, is […]

The Sheahan J (NSW Land and Environment Court) has handed down the decision in Karimbla Properties v Council of the City of Sydney et al [2017] NSWLEC 75 (‘the Karimbla Case’). Karimbla Properties (‘Karimbla’) contended that once earthworks commence on land which has approval for a residential project, the land should be classified as ‘residential’ […]

The Federal Budget presented on 9 May 2017 contained several taxation-related matters that will impact on, or otherwise interest, NFPs. Some matters will be relevant to all NFPs and others will have a more limited audience. (a) Matters for all NFPs to Note (i)       Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding Changes The parameters governing application of […]

Summary of Key Practical Points: Many transactions that are outside the ambit of Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding Tax (in its current form) will fall within its scope from 1 July 2017, if the threshold change which was announced in the 2017­­­–18 Federal Budget is enacted. For contracts made after 30 June 2017 and providing […]

Summary of Key Practical Points: In the near future, employers can expect employees to begin enquiring about making salary sacrifice payments into their superannuation funds for the purpose of accumulating deposits for their first homes under the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSS). The FHSS is a Federal Budget proposal only at this stage. It […]

Across our face-to-face training, online training and Q&As, we have noticed an increasing query rate in regards to the issue of staff being provided with tickets to various events. An example of this could include a local Council sponsoring a concert where the Council is provided with complimentary tickets by the organisers of the event. […]

The following car parking threshold applies for the 2017/18 FBT year: Car parking threshold – $8.66 (up from $8.48 in the 2016/17 FBT year). Employers are reminded that any liability for FBT on car parking involves ascertaining whether, on the first business day of the FBT year, the lowest fee charged for all day parking […]

Question Volunteer workers of our organisation are invited to functions throughout the year. Tickets to these functions are available for sale to the general public. One of the benefits of these functions includes attending a lunch and watching the football with the CEO and other senior members of our organisation. The volunteers are also able […]

Question We are a local Council and we allow employees to use the Council owned and operated gym facilities and allow them to salary sacrifice the annual gym membership fee. Employee’s currently pay for a family member’s gym membership via a payroll deduction, presently it is treated as a post-tax contribution from their salary such […]

Question A new employee has his accommodation expenses reimbursed. The accommodation is a B&B and is not owned or leased by us. The accommodation is in a remote area according to the FBT legislation. The employee is not from the local area and is employed by us for a short term (less than 12 month) […]