The Virgin Airlines FBT and car parking case – appealed by ATO

In the May 2021 TaxEd Update, we discussed the implications of the recent Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd v FCT [2021] FCA 523 (‘Virgin’)  FBT and car parking case – if you missed the article, click here to have a read.

In short, Virgin was successful in establishing it did not have an FBT liability on certain car parking provided to employees on the grounds the employees primary place of employment was an aircraft or where employees worked on multiple aircraft during the course of a day, there was no primary place of employment.

On that basis, car parking provided by the employer was not in the vicinity of the employees primary place of employment meaning one of the necessary pre-conditions of a car parking benefit did not exist.

And so … just when we thought the picture was clear… the ATO have appealed the decision.

Stay tuned.

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