Fringe Benefits Tax Return for the year ending 31 March 2018

The Australian Government has increased compliance and its audit activity in relation to Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT). An FBT return will need to be prepared and lodged on your behalf as per ATO requirements prior to June 2018.

What is Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)?
Where a benefit is provided by an employer to its employees (or associates for the employee), FBT needs to be calculated and paid by the employer. The FBT year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

A prime example of a benefit is a motor vehicle owned within a company or trust, which your employee or yourselves have use of. Other examples of a benefit include entertainment, expense payments etc.

Why have I never had a return done previously?
Whilst you may not have previously lodged an FBT return, you may still be impacted by the FBT rules. Annually as we have prepared your financial statements, we have made an adjustment for this private use of vehicles and this has been reported to the ATO as an “employee contribution” in your company/trust tax return. This no longer reduces the audit risk. This needs to be reported to the ATO in a FBT return prior to June 2018. Dependent on individual circumstances, we do not foresee that any additional tax will be payable.

What do I need to do?
For the moment, you just need to be aware of what FBT is and that we will be asking affected clients to provide us information in March 2018 regarding your vehicles and other benefits.

Please ensure you have a valid, up-to-date log book for all vehicles owned within your company/trust. If you do not have a valid log book, other methods may be used to calculate the employee contribution. Some vehicles such as utilities with a carrying capacity of over 1 tonne are exempt from FBT but a declaration will need to be signed stating that private use is minor and infrequent.

The ATO has now approved a Smart Phone based LogBook.
EzyCarLog is Australia’s ATO approved Smart Phone based Vehicle Mileage LogBook. You can download the new app from the app store or Google Play. To find out more, head to their website www.ezycarlog.com.au

Any Questions?
If you have any immediate concerns in relation to the above, please address these to your Highview Accountant.

Cranbourne: 03 5990 1000
Prahran: 03 9529 1566
Mornington: 03 5911 2100