2019 FBT FAQs

The FBT Report assists the employer in providing all the relevant details in determining the Fringe Benefit Value of vehicles held during the current FBT Year. Autopia has attempted to obtain a Fringe Benefit declaration from each of your employees on Autopackage.

You should verify that you have collected either sufficient post-tax Employee Contributions to eliminate the Fringe Benefit Value and/or sufficient pre-tax FBT Allowance Contributions to cover the FBT value of each vehicle.

If you have been using Post-tax Employee Contribution method:

• Run a payroll report to determine the total post-tax Employee Contributions collected between the FBT year start date (column R) and the FBT year-end date (column T).
• Ascertain whether the total Employee Contributions are equal to or more than the Fringe Benefit Value.

If you have been using Gross Up/Pre-tax FBT Allowance method:

• Calculate the FBT liability on the vehicle using this formula:

(Gross Fringe Benefit Value – pre-tax FBT Allowance Contributions for the FBT year) x 0.47 x 2.0802.

Include this vehicle in your FBT return. Employer will incur FBT on this vehicle.

• Run a payroll report to determine the total pre-tax FBT Allowance Contributions collected between the FBT year start date (column R) and the FBT year-end date (column T).

Due to the timing of employer’s payroll, Autopia’s invoice cycle, days available in the FBT year and a range of other factors, employee’s salary deductions will rarely exactly match the Fringe Benefit Value of the vehicle.

There is no concern for alarm here and any mismatch can be managed by following the instructions in Q2.

It is the employer’s responsibility to communicate any salary adjustments to the employee concerned. If employees seek further clarification having spoken to employer’s payroll, they can contact Autopia Driver Support Team on 1300 608 955 for further information.

Autopia is in regular contact with employees throughout the year, keeping them informed of their liabilities and trending.

29 March: Employees will receive an email instructing them to complete a declaration for the FBT year ending 31 March 2019.

1 April – 5 April: Employees who have not yet completed the declarations will receive email and SMS reminders instructing them the closing date for declarations is 10 April.

8 April: A final email and SMS reminder will be sent to employees who have yet to complete the declaration, urgently advising them the closing date for declarations is 10 April.

You must lodge a fringe benefits tax (FBT) return if you have a liability during an FBT year (1 April to 31 March). If your liability is nil, the ATO suggests to complete the Notice of non-lodgment – Fringe benefits tax form. This will avoid the ATO seeking a return from you at a later date.

Please refer to this link for more info.

Your Fringe Benefit Report indicates whether we have obtained a declaration from your Employee (Column C – ‘Declaration completed’).

If we have been unable to obtain a declaration, Autopia has made an estimate as to the gross Fringe Benefit Value of the vehicle for the period.

If Operating Cost is identified on the FBT report, you will need to ensure that you hold the employee’s logbook verifying their declared business use %. Autopia does not hold employee logbooks.

Please refer to here.

The FBT method is determined by the information provided by the employee on how they use their vehicle.

Days unavailable occur when an employee makes a statutory declaration that the vehicle was unavailable for private use.

As a general rule, unavailability occurs when the employee or any associate (either your family or other staff) does not have access to the vehicle. In all cases, unavailability commences from the first whole day that the vehicle was not available for use (midnight to midnight).

Some common examples of days unavailable are:

• The vehicle is garaged at the employer’s premises whilst the employee is on holidays or away on business. The keys are held by the employer and the vehicle is not available for private use by any other staff or associate.
• The vehicle is at a smash repairer after an accident.
• The vehicle is in a workshop for extensive repairs, commonly, a significant warranty repair. However, a vehicle is considered to be available for private use where it is in the workshop for routine servicing or maintenance

Autopia has not verified the legitimacy of claimed days unavailable as this is ultimately Employer’s responsibility.