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Cars, cars, cars and fringe benefits

By far and away the largest category of fringe benefits provided in Australia are cars. In the 2016 year, the Australian Taxation Office indicated that the total taxable value of all cars provided to employees in the year was $1.3 billion. This makes car benefits a significant contributor to tax revenue in Australia. But just because you have provided your employee with a motor vehicle does not automatically guarantee that there is fringe benefits tax (FBT) to pay.

So let’s go through an overview of when your business might be liable for FBT on the vehicles they provide. Continue reading “Cars, cars, cars and fringe benefits”

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FBT FAQs

It’s hard to imagine, but there was a time in Australia when a boozy business lunch, an employer provided car and a free trip to the Grand Prix were common ways of doing business. Some might accuse the Tax Office of being fun police, but as 31 March draws closer, I thought it would be a good time to remind every one about fringe benefits tax (FBT). Nowadays, I think we all know that employers can’t give you benefits that aren’t taxed. But how does FBT work? What’s included? And does FBT mean that there’s no point to employers giving their staff non-salary perks? In this first post, I’m going to try and answer some of the common FBT FAQs. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll look at some of the more common benefits in depth. Continue reading “FBT FAQs”