The Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year ended 31 March 2019. It is now time for businesses to determine if they have an FBT exposure and if so start to collate the relevant information to complete an FBT return for the 2019 year.
The Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year ended 31 March 2019. It is now time for businesses to determine if they have an FBT exposure and if so start to collate the relevant information to complete an FBT return for the 2019 year.
What is FBT?
Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) is a tax employers pay on certain benefits they provide to their employees, including their employee’s family and other associates.
Common Fringe Benefits
There are various categories of Fringe Benefits.
The common Fringe Benefits include:
- Car Fringe Benefits
- Entertainment Fringe Benefits
- Living away from home allowance Fringe Benefits
- Loan Fringe Benefits
- Car parking Fringe Benefits
- Expense payment Fringe Benefits
- Housing Fringe Benefits
Lodging FBT Returns
The 2019 FBT Return covers period from the 1st of April, 2018 to the 31st of March, 2019. FBT returns are to be lodged by no later than 21 of May, 2019.
The frequency of paying your FBT liability is determined by the amount of FBT required to be paid. If the Fringe Benefit was less than $3,000 the prior year, you are required to pay the FBT on the fringe benefit at the time of lodgement. If the Fringe Benefit in the prior year exceeded $3,000, you are required to pay the FBT Tax liability on a quarterly basis with your Business Activity Statements.
If you are registered for FBT and have not provided any benefit deemed a Fringe Benefit for the financial year, you will not incur a tax liability. However, given you are registered for FBT, you are still required to lodge an FBT return as a nil lodgement.
Activities targeted for audit by the ATO include
- Motor Vehicle benefits
- Living away from home Allowances
- Car parking valuations
- Non lodgements of FBT return
- Nil Lodgements
What to do next
The ATO have recently issued a number of new guidelines and potential concessions that may effect your business. We encourage you to contact us to discuss the latest developments and to ensure you are up to date with all potential impacts.
If you have any queries regarding the above, for assistance please contact us on (02) 4601 1000 [Camden] or (02) 4210 6030 [Wollongong]..
