Business advice
and accounting

Our purpose is to help you on your journey as you grow. Learn more about our history, partners and purpose.

Our purpose is to help you on your journey as you grow. Learn more about our history, partners and purpose.

Your partners for Business Service and Advisory, Taxation, Audit, Fraud and Risk.

Whatever your business, industry or family office, from local or international institutions we bring extensive expertise.

We're one team with a purpose and passion for what we do. Learn about our culture and career opportunities available to you.

Uncovering insights, trends and inspiration to help business grow in an ever-changing world.

We are always looking for ways to engage and give back to our community.

Telephone: +612 9283 1666
Email: admin@esvgroup.com.au

Level 13, 68 York Street,
Sydney NSW 2000

Why us

Our purpose is to help you on your journey as you grow. Learn more about our history, partners and purpose.

What we do

Your partners for Business Service and Advisory, Taxation, Audit, Fraud and Risk.

Who do we help

Whatever your business, industry or family office, from local or international institutions we bring extensive expertise.

Work with us

We're one team with a purpose and passion for what we do. Learn about our culture and career opportunities available to you.

What we think

Uncovering insights, trends and inspiration to help business grow in an ever-changing world.

Working to give back

We are always looking for ways to engage and give back to our community.

Contact us

Telephone: +612 9283 1666
Email: admin@esvgroup.com.au

Level 13, 68 York Street,
Sydney NSW 2000

FBT Recap - Utes provided to employees

17 August 2019

by David Prichard and Emma Bryant

It’s useful to recap on some of the more common areas where FBT liabilities can arise. There are the perennial issues around entertainment, travel diaries and log books for cars, however, this year’s main benefit issue revolved around the changes to FBT impacting on Utes.

A fringe benefit is an exempt benefit where the private use of eligible vehicles by current employees during a FBT year is limited to work-related travel, and other private use that is ‘minor, infrequent and irregular’.

Historically, industry took a wide view on the interpretation of the above exemption, however, the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) has clarified their position in respect of a panel van, ute, or other commercial vehicle (that is, one not designed principally to carry passengers).  As such, guidance provided by the ATO that must be met for the benefit of that vehicle’s private use to be FBT exempt (from 1 April 2018) are as follows:

  • Travel between the employee’s place of residence and place of employment and any diversion adds no more than two kilometres to the ordinary length of that trip;
  • Travel that is incidental to travel in the course of performing duties of employment: and/or
  • Journeys undertaken for wholly private purposes (other than travel between home and place of work), are:
    • not more than 1,000 kilometres in total for the year; and
    • a return journey does not exceed 200 kilometres.

The practical impact of the above is that the flexibility previously available has been significantly reduced and the potential exposure to FBT heightened.  In addition, the eligible and ineligible vehicles list previously provided by the ATO has been removed (the ATO now require you to assess whether the vehicles meet the private use exemption criteria).

If you provide utes to your employees, we recommend that you ensure your company policy is updated to limit the private use of these vehicles in line with the practical compliance guidelines. As part of ensuring appropriate documentation is maintained, employees should sign an annual declaration stating that their usage is minor and infrequent and doesn’t exceed the limits mentioned above.

If the ute does not meet the above conditions and is therefore not an exempt benefit, you will need to consider whether each ute provided is designed to carry a load of more than, or less than one tonne as this impacts how the resultant fringe benefit is calculated.

A ute designed to carry a load of less than one tonne would be a car fringe benefit and the logbook or statutory method would be used to calculate the FBT liability.

A ute designed to carry a load of more than one tonne would be a residual fringe benefit and would be calculated by multiplying the private kilometres travelled during the year (a soundly based estimate) by the cents per kilometre rate which is as follows:

FBT year ending 0–2500cc Over 2500cc Motor cycles
31 March 2020 55c 66c 16c
31 March 2019 54c 65c 16c

Finally, should you have any further questions regarding the FBT practical compliance guidelines and your business, please contact your ESV engagement partner on 02 9283 1666.