Fringe benefits tax - nominated state or territory bodies

Introduction

Part XIC of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 (FBTAA) enables state and territory governments to devolve the administration and payment of fringe benefits tax (FBT) to a departmental level. To devolve its FBT responsibility, a state or territory must nominate the relevant body and provide certain information to the Tax Office to facilitate the process.

A state or territory department will not be an employer for the purposes of the FBTAA unless it has been nominated by the relevant state or territory.

Once a nomination has been made, the nominated body is:

• taken to be a government body
• treated as the employer of each employee who has a sufficient connection with that body
• taken to be a company for the purposes of the FBTAA, and
• an associate of each other nominated state or territory body of the relevant state or territory, the state or territory and each authority of the state or territory.

Although a nominated body is treated as an employer for the purposes of the FBTAA the ultimate responsibility for the FBT obligations remains with the state or territory.

This information explains what a state or territory needs to do for the purposes of the FBTAA when:

• a new body is created
• a nominated state or territory body is abolished
• the name of a nominated state or territory body is changed
• the functions of a nominated state or territory body are transferred to another state or territory body, or
• the functions of a state or territory body are transferred to or from a government body that is an employer in its own right.