Articles

We recently received a Q&A from a member asking about the GST implications of providing emergency natural disaster funding assistance to homeowners. Background As described to us, an entity (Entity A) pays grants of financial assistance to individual homeowners who qualify for support to assist them recover from natural disasters. The assistance is to help […]

Question An employee purchased a portable electronic device in March 2021 (the prior FBT year). However, we did not reimburse her until the 2022 FBT year. Can we apply the section 58X exemption in the 2022 FBT year? Answer The provision that exempts certain work-related items – section 58X of the FBT Act – reads […]

The exemptions under sections 8(2) and 47(6)  of the FBT Act apply where there is no private use of the vehicle during the year of  tax and at a time when the benefit was provided other than: – work-related travel of the employee: and – other private use by the employee or an associate of the […]

In November 2019 the ATO issued a draft ruling TR 2019/D5 outlining an updated view of the application of the Fringe Benefits Tax (‘FBT’) rules for car parking fringe benefits. The draft ruling, once finalised, was intended to replace TR 96/26 (which was withdrawn at that time). On 16 June 2021, the ATO issued Taxation […]

The end of the FBT year draws near!  Each year, there are new developments to keep in mind when preparing your organisation’s FBT return including car parking, work travel issues, and COVID-19 concessions. There are also fundamental FBT issues to consider, such as car and motor vehicle benefits and entertainment. At TaxEd, we understand you’re […]

In our February 2022 TaxEd Update, we covered the tax issues related to employers providing or reimbursing costs related to employees taking COVID-19 tests (PCRs , Rapid Antigen style tests, etc). In that article, we flagged problems whereby FBT potentially could apply however noted the Prime Minister had made comments indicating the Government would move […]

We have previously focused on the Tax Office’s ruling TR 2021/2  (July 2021 Update and December 2021 Update) and particularly changes to the ATOs view as to what is a ‘commercial car parking station’.  In short the ATO now will treat as a commercial car parking station one that does not have a primary purpose […]

In August 2021, the NSW Office of Local Government published draft guidelines for ‘audit, risk and improvement committees’ (ARIC’s) for local councils in NSW. In broad terms, the draft guidelines consider (amongst other things) how frequently members of the ARIC must meet, the ability for ARIC members to be involved with multiple ARICs, whether ARIC […]

Question We have a public event on our premises & provide light refreshments consisting of pizza, sandwiches, and non-alcoholic events. Would this constitute meal entertainment with FBT payable for employees that attend the event? The cost per head for the event is less than $300. We do not use the meal entertainment 50/50 valuation rules […]

Editor’s note: The government has recently announced no FBT applies to COVID-19 testing. The Government announcement will be covered in detail in our March 2022 Update. Are there FBT implications for COVID-19 testing? You may require your employees to undertake COVID-19 testing before attending the workplace. Employees may also be required to have COVID-19 tests […]