Pay as you go withholding - what you need to know

Fringe benefits tax (FBT) for employers

FBT is a tax paid on certain benefits employers provide to their employees or their employees' associates (typically family members). Benefits can be provided by you, your associate or by a third party under an arrangement with you. FBT is separate from income tax and is based on the taxable value of the various fringe benefits provided.

The FBT year runs from 1 April to 31 March.

Basically, a fringe benefit is a benefit provided to an employee in respect of employment. This effectively means a benefit provided to an employee (or their associate) because that person is an employee. An employee can be a current, future or former employee.

If you are a director and conduct your business through a company or a trust, you may be an employee of the company or trust. This may mean you are providing fringe benefits to yourself.

The term 'benefit' is broadly defined and includes any rights, privileges, or services. If you answer 'YES' to any of the following questions, you may need to pay FBT.

• Do your employees take cars home and garage them overnight, even if only for security reasons?
• Do you make a car or other vehicles owned or leased by the business available to employees for private use?
• Do you provide loans at reduced interest rates to employees?
• Have you released any employees from a debt they owed?
• Have you paid for, or reimbursed, an expense incurred by an employee?
• Do you provide a house or unit of accommodation to our employees?
• Do you provide employees with living away from home allowances?
• Do you provide entertainment by way of food, drink or recreation to your employees?
• Do any of your employees have a salary packaging arrangement in place?
• Have you provided your employees with goods at a lower price than they are normally sold to the public?

For more information about FBT, refer to Fringe benefits tax - what you need to know (NAT 1744).

Sections within Other payer obligations at a glance

• Super for employees
• Employee eligibility
• Super for the self-employed
• Paying super for contractors
• When to pay super contributions
• Claiming a tax deduction for your super contributions
• Where to pay your super contributions
• Superannuation clearing house
• Failing to meet your super obligations
• Salary sacrifices for superannuation
• Tax file numbers
• Tools and resources you can use
• Fringe benefits tax (FBT) for employers
• Payroll tax