When you complete the information at item A, do not show the actual value of the cars in the 'Gross taxable value (a)' column.
Employee contributions include:
- amounts the employee pays directly to you for using a car
- any car operating costs (for example, fuel) the employee paid.
Use GST-inclusive amounts where appropriate.
If, at the beginning of the FBT year, you have already owned or leased the car for four years, you can reduce its base value by one-third. The reduction applies only once for a particular car – you then use the reduced base value for subsequent years.
Determining the statutory percentage
A flat statutory rate of 20% applies, regardless of the distance travelled, to all car fringe benefits you provide from 1 April 2014 (except where there is a pre-existing commitment in place before 7.30pm AEST on 10 May 2011 to provide a car).
The move to one statutory rate of 20% has been phased in over four years. The transitional rules applicable to determining the statutory percentage ceased to apply from 1 April 2014.
Pre-existing commitment in place before 7.30pm AEST on 10 May 2011
The statutory percentages for car fringe benefits provided where you have a pre-existing commitment in place, are as follows:
Total kilometres travelled during the FBT year |
Statutory percentage |
Less than 15,000 |
26 |
15,000 to 24,999 |
20 |
25,000 to 40,000 |
11 |
Over 40,000 |
7 |
You can continue to use these statutory rates for all pre-existing commitments unless there is a change to that commitment.
If a car was not held for the whole FBT year, you need to work out how many kilometres it would have travelled if you had held it for the whole year, to establish the appropriate statutory fraction – for example, if you acquire a car halfway through the FBT year and it travels 12,000 kilometres in six months, the distance it travels in a year is 24,000 kilometres.
Example: Pre-existing commitment – calculate car fringe benefits using the statutory formula
An employer has two cars with a base value of $30,000 each. The employer enters into a contract with their employee on 1 May 2011 to provide the car to their employee for 4 years. Both cars have travelled 30,000 kilometres in the FBT year and have been available to the employees for private use for the whole year. The two employees who use the cars have made contributions of $1,000 each for fuel during the year.
The calculation for each car is as follows:
($30,000 x 11%) – $1,000
= $2,300
The employer shows this at item 23 as follows:
Example: No pre-existing commitment – calculate car fringe benefits using the statutory formula
Under an arrangement that did not involve a pre-existing commitment, on 12 June 2014 an employer agreed to provide an employee with a car fringe benefit. The car was delivered on 1 July 2014 and was available to the employee for private use from that date.
From 1 July 2014 to 31 March 2015, the car travelled 31,000 kilometres.
The base value of the car is $32,000.
The employee did not make any contributions.
As the transitional arrangements ceased to apply on 31 March 2014, the number of kilometres travelled is not relevant and the flat rate of 20% is applied.
The calculation for the car is ($32,000 x 20%) x 274/365 = $4,804.
The employer shows this at item 23 as follows: