QLD Fringe Benefits Tax Questions

[Samlee18]

Hi

I have use of a business car. Could someone please clarify what parts of the below scenarios are private use:

1. Going from work base to work related property then home to garage. Sometimes the last business stop is further to my home (say 20km) than work to home (11km).

2. Going from home to collect work mail to work.

If the account at work incorrectly calculated the personal use can they make an adjustment with the ATO prior to EOFY?

Also with a "pool" car how much does the 2nd person have to use it as private to count? Ie. if the second person used the car to travel to and from home for 3 weeks does that then count as being pooled and fbt reporting exempt?

Thank you!!

 

[Tim W]

1. As a general thing (exceptions excepted), travel between work sites is deductible,
   but, in a regular car, travel between your last site of work, and home, isn't.
   There are many ifs, buts, and exceptions involved.
   
   Let's be clear - there's no way to bodgy up your private travel,
   to and from work in a regular car, into an allowable deduction.
   
   
2. Collecting the mail is "indcidental" and almost never counts as business travel
   of the kind that would give rise to an allowable deduction (see paragraph 33 of the link below).

The ATO's pulished doctrine on this is in this link.

 

[Samlee18]

1. As a general thing (exceptions excepted), travel between work sites is deductible,
   but, in a regular car, travel between your last site of work, and home, isn't.
   There are many ifs, buts, and exceptions involved.
   
   
2. Collecting the mail is "indcidental" and almost never counts as business travel
   of the kind that would give rise to an allowable deduction (see paragraph 33 of the link below).

The ATO's pulished doctrine on this is in this.link.

Thank you for your answer. In regards to a pool car would another person using the car over the 12 months, with 3 weeks of personal use to and from work make it count as a pool car?

 

[Samlee18]

Also should my employer advised me from the start in regards to FBT. This was never mentioned and it's not in my contract.

 

[Tim W]

FBT is paid by the employer.
It's the taxable value of the fringe benefit that forms part of your assessable income
(even though it's colloquially called "FBT", this is not strictly correct).

You can reduce the taxable value of the fringe benefiit
by making employee contribution payments from your post-tax income.

 

[Tim W]

Just to be clear - your "business car" is only a taxable fringe benefit
if you have private use of it, such as if you get to use it to drive
to and from work and home on more than occasional basis.

 

[Samlee18]

But doesn't the employer have to advise the employee prior that the car may be subject to FBT ?

 

[Tim W]

But doesn't the employer have to advise the employee prior that the car may be subject to FBT ?

Not especially.
FBT is a tax paid by the employer, not the worker.
They are no more obliged to tell you about FBT
than to tell you that they are liable for company tax.

Thing is, unless your employer is a middling to large corporate,
that is, the kind likely to have a reasonably switched on HR and payroll department,
it probably didn't even occur to them to mention it, until, say,
the end of the FBT year (31 Match 2017... when their accountant pointed it out).

I suspect that we are not answering the question to which you really want an answer.
What's the background?

 

[Tim W]

Thank you for your answer. In regards to a pool car would another person using the car over the 12 months, with 3 weeks of personal use to and from work make it count as a pool car?

If your use is, as the tax doctrine says, minor, infrequent, and irregular,
then it probably won't give rise to a taxable fringe benefit.

In ATO-think, three planned weeks is probably not "minor, infrequent, and irregular",
whereas borrowing the work ute one weekend to take a load of stuff to the tip, could be.

As a general thing, for a private car, private use is measured by the number of nights that you have it overnight at your place.
So if you have it, say, at home 21 nights a year (even if not consecutive), and not 365 nights,
then 21 is the number used to calculate the value of the benefit.
That it is otherwise a pool car is not relevant.

The rules are different for vehicles that are not passenger cars (such as "tradies' vans").
Employers sometimes get that wrong, or think that there are petty cheat methods available
such as being on-call, or having to transport sensitive documents, or just being a ute. Nah.
Also, some employers use the wrong method to calculate FBT, or forget that it might have been less than 365 nights.

 

[Cairns123]

1. As a general thing (exceptions excepted), travel between work sites is deductible,
   but, in a regular car, travel between your last site of work, and home, isn't.
   There are many ifs, buts, and exceptions involved.
   
   Let's be clear - there's no way to bodgy up your private travel,
   to and from work in a regular car, into an allowable deduction.
   
   
2. Collecting the mail is "indcidental" and almost never counts as business travel
   of the kind that would give rise to an allowable deduction (see paragraph 33 of the link below).

The ATO's pulished doctrine on this is in this link.

Is this still current in 2018? I specifically need to know from 2008-2018