Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) - Year Ending 31 March 2020

To assist us in preparing your 2020 FBT Return or FBT addback we have prepared a checklist which applies to most situations. Please use this and the accompanying worksheets to note details of all fringe benefits supplied to employees (or their family members) for the year ending 31 March 2020. We ask that you complete the checklist for each trading entity.

          In particular, please note the requirement to take car odometer readings on 31 March 2020. Our office has maintained records of odometer reading on 31 March 2019, where they were provided to us.

Worksheet to be completed by 28 April 2020

CLICK HERE for your FBT Checklist and Worksheets

         If you are an FBT instalment payer, you will be required to pay your fourth instalment with your March 2020 quarter BAS/IAS. If you know what your FBT liability will be for the 2019 FBT year, you may vary this fourth instalment. Alternatively, you are able to pay the fourth instalment and resolve any balance upon lodgement of the FBT return.

The due date for lodgement of the annual FBT return is 25 June 2020.

Important Points

Workers Compensation and Payroll Tax

Please note that fringe benefits provided to workers generally form part of the value of wages to be declared for workers compensation and payroll tax purposes. Please note this when your workers compensation renewal is next due.

          If you are subject to payroll tax, it should be noted that an adjustment to the total payroll is necessary for the value of fringe benefits provided. Please take this into account when completing your next annual payroll tax reconciliation or reviewing whether you are over the payroll tax threshold.

          We will send you a summary of the fringe benefits amounts to be added to your wages for workers compensation and payroll tax purposes at the end of this process.

Reporting of Fringe Benefits on PAYG Payment Summaries

As you may be aware, fringe benefits provided to employees will need to be shown on PAYG payment summaries for the year ending 30 June 2019. The figure to be included will be based on fringe benefits provided during the fringe benefits tax year from 01 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. We will provide you with a schedule of reportable fringe benefits per employee for this purpose with your completed FBT return.

          Fringe benefits will only be reported on an employee payment when the taxable value exceeds $2,000 ($3,773 on a grossed-up basis).

Reporting of Salary Sacrificed Superannuation on PAYG Payment Summaries

Recent changes made by the ATO now require salary sacrificed superannuation to be shown on PAYG payment summaries. This is similar to the reporting of reportable fringe benefits. We have added an additional section to the checklist asking for details of any superannuation payments made in addition to the minimum 9.50% gross wages up to 30 June 2020.

Increased ATO Audit Activity

The ATO have released statements indicating that they intend to increase their audit activity of the provision of fringe benefits and fringe benefits tax returns. As the audit activity and any liability for non-compliance rests on the employer, we are asking you to collect additional information from your employees to ensure that the details they provide to you are correct.

Motor Vehicle Fringe Benefits

For motor vehicle fringe benefits, we have included a statutory declaration pro forma for an employee to report either their kilometres travelled or their log book percentage. If you are intending to use the operating cost / logbook percentage you should obtain a copy of the logbook and forward it to us. In many cases, logbooks are not completed correctly and need to be verified before they are able to be relied on.

CLICK HERE for Statutory Declaration Document

Should you wish to discuss the requirements, then please get in touch with us either via phone (02) 9908 4744 or via email staff@cjeffery.com.au