FAQs

You have to be paying tax to get a tax benefit.

The minimum income you need to earn before you pay any tax is $18,200; however, the minimum income will be above this amount based on your personal situation.

As there are many factors that influence the amount you need to earn before receiving a financial benefit, you should seek professional advice to identify the personal benefit for your situation.

Salary Packaging is your Employer paying some money, from your weekly or fortnightly income, to a Salary Packaging Administrator, to pay for some personal expenses without this income being taxed.

The Administrator can pay the nominated personal expenses for you, or you can pay for the expenses upfront and get reimbursed by the Administrator from the funds your Employer has paid into your Salary Packaging Trust Account.

Salary Sacrifice is your Employer paying some voluntary contributions, from your weekly or fortnightly income, to a complying Superannuation Fund, without this income being taxed.

The Super Fund then pays a Contributions Tax of 15% to the ATO from the contributions made – therefore the money to the value of the 15% Contributions Tax, is not being invested.

A fringe benefit is a ‘payment’ made, on behalf of an Employee, for a non-work-related item such as a Mortgage Payment, paid directly to the Bank without having paid PAYG Tax on that income.

FBT is the Tax paid to the ATO, based on your Employer paying for a personal expense for you that is not for Business Purposes nor can be Salary Packaged.

This is the term used to describe an Employees income before it is taxed.

This is the term used to describe an Employees income after it is taxed.

Your payroll department transfers the funds to FAA through their online portal. This amount is agreed between FAA and the Employee prior to the deduction.

The percentage of tax a person pays increases as their earnings increase; this is called a Marginal Tax Rate scale.

With Salary Packaging you gain a greater tax benefit with a higher income.

This is the term used to describe the scale used by the ATO for the differing rates of tax applied to a range of income levels:

$0                       to                $18,200                      0% Tax payable

$18,201             to                $37,000                    19% Tax payable

$37,001             to                $90,000                 32.5% Tax payable

$90,001             to                $180,000                 37% Tax payable

$180,000          to                Unlimited               45% Tax payable

Note 2% Medicare Levy added above $22,801 on a varying scale dependent on a number of factors (above $36,056 for seniors and pensioners)

The FBT Year is the reporting period to the ATO for everything relating to FBT including, but not limited to – Post Tax Contributions for a MV, the CAP allowance stops at the end of the FBT Year.

The FBT Year commences on April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

This allows for Employers to report the Employees FBT position for the end of the Financial Year at 30 June each year.

It is the responsibility of the Employer to report any FBT.

Any FBT owing by the Employee will be reported through your Salary Packaging Portal at the end of the FBT year.

An Exemption Cap is an allowance of money that an ‘Approved Employer’ by the ATO that can pay for personal expenses for an Employee without incurring FBT.

We first suggest you ask your Employer’s payroll or HR Team; if they don’t know, then log onto the ATO’s website to look up your Employers FBT status.

A Rebatable Cap is an allowance of money that an ‘Approved Employer’ can pay expenses for an Employee attracting a 47% rebate (discount) on the FBT payable.

A Rebatable Cap Limit is the nominated amount of money that an ‘Approved Employer’ can pay expenses for an Employee attracting a 47% rebate (discount) on the FBT payable within an FBT year (April 1 to March 31).

Having a $17,000 Exemption Cap is an allowance of Grossed Up Taxable Value (GUTV) that an ‘Approved Employer’ by the ATO that can pay for personal expenses for an Employee without incurring FBT

Your $17,000 CAP equates to approximately a $9,009 reduction in the income you have to pay tax on.

An organisation operated for a collective, public or social benefit that cannot distribute a profit to a shareholder.

Rebatable Cap Limit is $30,000 GUTV per year

Between $14,421 for GST Items and $15,900 for non-GST Items per year

 Predominantly for NFP Educations type organisations

Exemption Cap Limit of $17,000 GUTV per year

Between $8,172 for GST Items and $9,010 for non-GST Items per year

 If using an ‘Everyday Expenditure Card’, $9,010 per year

 Predominantly for Public and NFP Hospitals

Exemption Cap Limit of $30,000 GUTV per year

Between $14,421 for GST Items and $15,900 for non-GST Items per year

 If using a ‘Everyday Expenditure Card’, $15,900 per year

 Predominantly for Charitable organisations

Exemption Cap Limit of $5,000 GUTV per year

Between $2,403 for GST Items and $2,650 for non-GST Items per year

 If using a ‘Meal & Entertainment Card’, $2,650 per year

 This is an additional separate combined Exemption Cap Limit for Meals, Entertainment, Travel, Venue Hire, and Accommodation

 This is available for all CAP’s as noted above in this point

An example of items this can be spent on are:

1. Going out to a ‘sit-down’ meal at a restaurant
2. Taking the family out to have a meal at McDonalds
3. Travelling on a trip and staying at motels along the way
4. Going on a Cruise
5. Paying for a 21^st Birthday Party or perhaps a Wedding Reception facility
6. Flights in connection with Entertainment/Accommodation etc
7. Gift cards at restaurants
8. Accommodation Expenses
9. Etc, etc, etc

This is an equation developed by the ATO to identify/convert the amount of salary that you would have had to earn in order to purchase the benefit from after-tax dollars if earning income at the top tax bracket.

If you have a Cap (eg. $17,000 for a worker in a Hospital) the GUTV of a benefit varies depending on if the item has GST on it or not.

GUTV Rates and how it works:

• 8868 for non-GST items
• 0802 for GST items
• If packaging all non-GST items, $17,000 Cap/1.8868 = $9,009.96
• If packaging all GST items, $17,000 Cap/2.0802 = $8,172.29
• You can have a combination of GST and non-GST items

This is automatically calculated when doing your quote with FAA.

Subject to certain conditions, some organisations are exempt from FBT. These organisations include:

• registered public benevolent institutions endorsed by the ATO for FBT concessions
• registered health promotion charities endorsed by the ATO for FBT concessions
• public and not-for-profit hospitals*
• public ambulance services.

 Benefits provided by these organisations may be exempt where the total grossed-up value of certain benefits (which are benefits not otherwise exempt) provided to each Employee during the FBT year is equal to, or less than, the capping threshold. If the total grossed-up value of fringe benefits provided to an Employee is more than that capping threshold, your organisation will need to pay FBT on the excess.

 As a Salary Packaging Administrator, we consistently reconcile all Employees Trust Accounts to minimise the chances of the Employer going over their CAP allowance.  Every Employee signs a ‘Participation Agreement’ which commits them to pay any FBT payable that the Employer is due to pay due to their over expenditure.

Organisations that qualify for the FBT rebate are referred to as ‘Rebatable Employers’. Rebatable Employers are certain non-government, not-for-profit organisations.

 Organisations that may qualify for the FBT rebate include:

• registered charities (other than public benevolent institutions or health promotion charities) that are an institution, not established under a government law and are endorsed by us as a tax concessions charity
• certain scientific or public educational institutions
• certain trade unions and Employer associations located in Australia exempt from income tax
• not-for-profit tax-exempt organisations established for
  • musical purposes
  • community service purposes
• not-for-profit tax-exempt organisations established for the encouragement of
  • science
  • animal racing
  • art
  • a game or sport
  • literature
  • music
• not-for-profit tax-exempt organisations established for the purpose of promoting the development of
  • aviation or tourism
  • Australian information and communications technology resources
  • Australia’s agricultural, pastoral, horticultural, viticultural, aquacultural, fishing, manufacturing or industrial resources.

 Registered charities must be endorsed by us to access the FBT rebate. The FBT rebate is only available to registered charities that are institutions.

The reduced FBT payable from the Employee each pay period, is collected and held in the Trust Acc in preparation to send to the Employer/ATO at the end of FBT year.

Options to find out where you fit:

• Ask your Employer
• Use our quoting tools
• Use the ABN Lookup tool on the Web

 Notes for ABN Lookup:

• Search for your Employer by ABN (Look on your payslip) or search by name
• Select your Employer
• Scroll down past trading names to ‘tax concession status’
• You have a Cap if it is listed as ‘FBT Exemption’ or ‘FBT Rebate’.
• ‘Public Benevolent Institute’ (PBI) and ‘FBT Exemption’ = $30,000 Exemption Cap
• ‘Public Benevolent Institute’ (PBI) and ‘FBT Rebate’ = $30,000 Rebate Cap

 Cap Types you may fit into:

• Exemption Cap of $30,000 – Public Benevolent Institution (other than public hospitals), health promotion charities and legal aid
• Exemption Cap $17,000 – Public hospitals, non-profit hospitals and public ambulance services
• Rebatable Cap $30,000 – Most Private Schools, Unions and Associations

Not the GUTV amount, but your cash within your Trust Acc rolls into the next FBT Year.

Check your Trust Acc to see if you are likely to have unspent Cap/money.  Consider using your PBI card where ever possible and consider buying store vouchers.

There are a large number of options available – examples below:

• Buy gift or shopping vouchers
• Send in receipts for expenses you have not yet claimed (electricity, fuel, groceries etc.)
• Do some early birthday present or Xmas Shopping are just a couple

No, your trust account balance does not change.  You miss out on claiming the Tax benefit for that FBT year.

These funds are then immediately available at the commencement of the next FBT year.  These funds then make up part of the funds limit for the next FBT year.

Example: Actual funds FBT Yr limit is $9,009 – you have $2,000 of unspent monies in your Trust Acc, therefore can only Salary Package $7,009 in the next FBT year.

Each pay, your Salary Packaged funds are sent to your Trust Acc to pay for your packaged items.

Tax is calculated on the balance of your salary that will be paid directly to you as normal.

Go to our Quote page to find out what your financial gain can be.

‘Above-the-Cap’ or otherwise known as ‘in addition to your cap’ items may include:

• Novated leasing a vehicle
• Work-related devices
• Self-education payments

These type of benefits above have no legislative limit.

• Additional superannuation payments

None of the benefits listed above incur FBT.

Mostly; the ATO has very few limitations on what you can spend your Cap on. Most Employers or suppliers of Cap Cards, do not permit packaging of cigarettes, retail alcohol, gambling, firearms, adult entertainment, or cash advances.

The ATO let you package regular living expenses; some Employers will have specific exclusions.  If in doubt, ask your payroll staff for your approved list.

Your Cap does not include items such as pre-tax contributions to: Superannuation, Novated or Associate Leases and Remote Area Benefits.

Your CAP limit is per FBT year.  Divide your CAP limit by the number of pay cycles left in the FBT year and that is the maximum you can package per pay run.

This is often referred to as ‘Compressing your Package’.

Example: Start in January with a Hospital that pays fortnightly and you may package up to $1,501.50 of your $9,009 Cap and $441.66 of Meals & Entertainment Cap in each of the 6 pays left in the FBT Year.

If you are not going to be receiving any income for a pay-cycle, there won’t be any funds available for your Employer to transfer into your Trust Acc.

It is essential that every Employee logs onto their Salary Packaging portal to modify their package deductions according to your individual situation.

The FBT Act plugged the tax loophole to stop Employers giving non-salary or cash benefits to staff to avoid paying income tax. E.g., Employee receiving Salary + Car + School Fees, but only paying Income Tax on the salary component paid directly into their bank account.

No, Salary Packaging is optional but highly recommended, for Employers to offer to their Employees.

Salary Packaging has the Employer purchasing items for the Employee before their income is taxed.  The ATO cannot force Employers to establish this relationship.

Salary Packaging is a way for Employers to increase Employees disposable income with external funds, so is attractive to most, but not all.

Employee Contribution Method (ECM) is an ATO approved method of allowing an Employer to provide a vehicle to an Employee without attracting FBT to be payable.

The Employee must pay Post-Tax money towards the total Novated Lease package.

The calculation of how much ECM to pay is 20% of the ‘Base Value’ of the vehicle.  This is the same amount that needs to be paid each year towards the total cost of the Novated Lease package.

The ‘Base Value’ of New and Used Cars is calculated considering:

• The On-road cost

Less

• Stamp duty,
• CTP
• Registration
• Registration Plates
• Extended warranty

For Sale-n-Lease Back and Associate Leasing:

The Market Value (On-road cost) of Existing Cars is calculated using accepted resources such as; Redbook, Cars Guide or Glass’s Guide.

Leasing a vehicle from a Leasing Company where everything is supplied including servicing, fuel and tyres etc. for an all-inclusive price.

An Associate Lease is a Novated Lease from an Associate in lieu of a Financier or Leasing Company.

Leasing a vehicle from an Associate where everything is supplied including servicing, fuel and tyres etc for an all-inclusive price.
FMAL is coming in 2023.

Fully Maintained Associate Leases (FMAL) typically outperform all other leasing models for Salary Packaging.

FMAL typically outperforms because it can convert all or part of the post-tax (ECM) contribution to a pre-tax contribution.

FMAL uses the substantiation of MV running expenses as replacement of the post-tax (ECM) contribution.

A key advantage comes from the Associate being able to claim car depreciation.

Anyone who can hold an ABN that you trust and is related to you.

Yes, the ATO requires the Associate to make a profit running it like a business with an ABN.  This profit will be added to their taxable income (Just like running a second business).

Yes; the profit earned is added to their existing income.  The lower the Associates income is, the better the financial outcome will be.

FAA provide and support the Associate with a separate Trust Account with their own portal to manage and report on all necessary facets required.

FAA can help with ABN registration, or the Associate can self-serve via https://register.business.gov.au.

Yes.

Yes, with FAA you can package any registered motor vehicle of any age providing it is:

• a sedan or station wagon, any other goods-carrying vehicle with a carrying capacity of less than one tonne, such as a panel van or utility (including four-wheel drive vehicles)
• any other passenger-carrying vehicle designed to carry fewer than nine passengers.

The choice is yours, 1 to 5 years.

As lease establishments have fees, longer lease periods can be more beneficial.

Shorter Lease periods can be beneficial if you are trying to compress more years of payments into a shorter period and you are not going to renew the lease as you are selling the vehicle.

Yes.

The Associate.

The ownership of the vehicle at the end of lease is separate from the lease.

This is totally irrelevant to all documentation within an Associate Lease.  This is worked out separately with the Associate.

The car remains an asset of the household, but will no longer receive tax benefits without Salary Packaging.

If you choose a lease with finance, the finance company will perform its credit check and FAA will look after the process for you to obtain the finance required to buy your new car.

If your Associate is/can be added to the ownership, the answer is yes.

Transfer or addition of a family member to a vehicle registration is permitted at no cost and this will allow you to lease this vehicle from them.

Yes. This is typically called a ‘sale and lease back’ type of Novated Lease.

Yes, whether or not their vehicle has finance on it, is irrelevant to you.

The cost of their finance will be incorporated into the all-inclusive cost that the Associate charges you to Lease their vehicle.

No.

However, we will assist to provide competitive offers from differing suppliers.

Alternately you can find your own insurance cover and upload the policy quote into your Novated and Associate Leasing quote via the App.

This is the same as if the vehicle is not leased.

You will be able to claim through your Salary Packaging any insurance excess paid.

The following steps need to be taken:

If under a Novated Lease:

• Contact FAA via your Portal so we can terminate your Novate Lease on that vehicle
• Contact the financier to pay out the existing finance on the vehicle
• You will be able to claim through your salary packaging any insurance excess paid

If under an Associate Lease:

• Contact FAA via your Portal so we can terminate the Associate Lease on that vehicle
• You will be able to claim through your salary packaging any insurance excess paid

It depends on the Employer.

Typically, we do not require odometer readings.

No; they are an option that makes it easy to provide proof of purchases to the ATO.  With our App you can claim expenses by uploading your receipts, or request a fuel card.

Expect time frames range from 10 to 20 days

However, expenses can be claimed via the App if incurred before cards arrive.

Note: If your card fails to arrive within 20 days, contact us to prevent unauthorised use.

No, they are for the exclusive use of your leased vehicle.

Call FAA to have the Fuel Card suspended and reissued ASAP.

Expenses can be claimed via the App if incurred before your new cards arrive.

This depends on your Employer.  Most will refund GST back to the trust account – it is the Employers choice.

The residual value of a car is the amount of debt still owing to the finance company at the end of the lease period.

The amounts are stipulated at the outset of the lease in accordance within the guidelines set out by the ATO.

The residual percentage varies dependent on the lease period

Example:
Car Val = $30,000;
Lease term = 4 Years;
Residual % = 35%
Therefore: $30,000 x 35% = $10,500 fixed residual value payable in 4 years at the end of the Lease.

The ‘Residual Payment’ sometimes is also referred to as a ‘Balloon Payment’.

Associate Leases need to have a ‘residual’ value for depreciation purposes.

FMAL type of leases need to have a ‘residual’ value for depreciation purposes.

A lump sum that has not been paid off yet, that is still owing to the Financier at the end of the lease period.

You either:

• Transfer your Lease to your new Employer (New Employer approval required) and continue;
• Cancel the Lease; continue to pay the Finance Lease costs with Post-Tax dollars (No tax benefits); or
• Cancel the Lease; payout any finance and own the vehicle.

You either:

• Transfer your lease to your new Employer (New Employer approval required) and continue; or
• Cancel the lease, transfer the funds back through payroll to yourself and continue the same as you were prior to the lease.

You either:

• Keep the vehicle & cease leasing
  • Cease leasing, payout the residual/balloon of the loan and own the car
• Keep the vehicle & continue leasing
  • Refinance the residual/balloon, commence a new lease with the new refinance amount
• Sell the vehicle & cease leasing
  • From proceeds of the sale, payout residual/balloon and keep any surplus

All of the same places that you would normally service your vehicle.

Vehicles that carry under 9 passengers and have up to 1-tonne capacity

For fringe benefits tax (FBT) purposes, a car is any of the following:

• a sedan or station wagon, any other goods-carrying vehicle with a carrying capacity of less than one tonne, such as a panel van or utility (including four-wheel drive vehicles)
• any other passenger-carrying vehicle designed to carry fewer than nine passengers.

Yes, with T&Cs.

• where the car was manufactured in Australia more than two years before the sale; and
• where the car was imported more than two years before the sale.

No.

No.

Your Superannuation Fund will pay 15% Contributions Tax on all Pre-Tax contributions paid into their fund.

However, there is no PAYG Tax paid on your additional voluntary contributions into your Superannuation Fund.

Yes, providing your SMSF trust deed allows the SMSF to accept Salary Sacrificed and Employer contributions with a SuperStream Electronic Service Address (ESA).

Making extra concessional contributions may result in you benefiting by paying less tax.

However, everyone’s situation is different; therefore, you should seek professional advice considering all aspects of your financial situation including Government Co Contributions etc.

If you go over your concessional contribution cap for the year, the excess amount may be taxed at your marginal tax rate, plus an additional excess concessional contributions charge.

RSA does not affect your income tax bill, but is added to the ATOs calculations for your education repayments. Note: RSA is listed on your annual payment summary.

When completing your Salary Packaging Application, you need to tick the box identifying that you have a HECS/HELP Debt.

Your new HECS/HELP repayments will be calculated on your Pre-Salary Packaging Salary, less the amount you are packaging, then add on the GUTV value of the items that you have packaged.

Your new HECS/HELP repayments will be calculated on your Pre-Salary Packaging Salary, less the amount you are packaging, then add on the GUTV value of the items that you have packaged.

Therefore, this increases the amount of HECS/HELP being paid which effectively pays off this debt quicker for you

The considerations to attend to are:

• The Salary Packaging Software will advise you, on your FAA Quote if you have answered the question re “do you have a HECS/HELP debt”, of the correct amount of Tax that your Employer will need to deduct for each pay-cycle
• Advise your Employer Payroll of the correct amount of Tax to deduct each Pay cycle

Note: IF you don’t adjust this – you will accrue a Tax Debt for unpaid HECS/HELP.

The figure is on your FAA Quote if you have answered the question re “do you have a HECS/HELP debt”.

Yes definitely – this way your Tax Savings are paying off your HECS/HELP so much quicker and you are still cash-flow positive in comparison to your pre-package disposable income.

Although Salary Packaging of ‘Reportable Items’ will reduce your taxable income; it will increase the gross value of your salary that HECS/HELP is calculated on. This is referred to as your ATI.

‘Reportable’ Income levels set by the ATO that identify the amount of HECS/HELP you will have to pay when you go over each level.

‘Reportable Benefits’ are Salary Packaging benefits that are reported on your Payment Salary that you receive at the end of each financial year.

Examples:

• Items packaged within your Cap
• Superannuation paid with Pre-Tax income

‘Non-Reportable Benefits’ are Salary Packaging benefits that are not reported on your Payment Salary that you receive at the end of each financial year.

Examples:

• Novated Finance Leases
• Novated Associate type of Leases
• ODE’s (Otherwise Deductible Expenses)

Salary Packaging of ‘Reportable Items’ will reduce your taxable income, but the GUTV will be added back on increasing the gross value of your salary that the Centrelink Payments is calculated on.  Therefore, the Centrelink Payments for Family Tax Benefits payment may decrease.

However, Salary Packaging of ‘Non-Reportable Items’ such as a Novated & Associate Leasing, will decrease the salary that Centrelink Payments is calculated on.  Therefore, the Centrelink payments for Family Tax Benefits payment may increase.

Please seek advice regarding your individual circumstances.

Salary Packaging of ‘Reportable Items’ will reduce your taxable income, but the GUTV will be added back on increasing the gross value of your salary that the Child Support is calculated on if your agreement is through that agency.  Therefore, your Child Support payment may increase.

However, Salary Packaging of “Non-Reportable Items’ such as a Novated & Associate Leasing, will decrease the salary that Child Support is calculated on.  Therefore, your Child Support payment may decrease.

Where you have a private arrangement in place; Salary Packaging will not generally have any impact on your child support payments.

Please seek advice regarding your individual circumstances.

You get to claim the GST back into your Trust Account; and

You don’t have to wait until tax time to claim it to obtain the use of the money.

Log onto your online portal;

Simply upload an image or take a photo on your mobile device and claim.

Make your claims anywhere and anytime on any device.

Reimbursements will be automatically paid to the nominated bank account, the time it takes for the funds to become available will vary depending on the bank these payments are going into.

Note: Expenses paid for with your PBI Card are automatically deducted, no need to do anything.

You can update your details, or benefits 24/7 via your FAA Online Portal.

Your account balance is available 24/7 in real-time via your FAA Online Portal.

You have a number of options including:

• Excess funds may be transferred back to your Employer to be paid to you as salary being taxed as you would ordinarily would be;
• You can spend the items within your account in alignment with the items you have packaged;
• You can direct these funds to be paid directly into your Superannuation Fund. You should seek professional advice prior to making this decision.

Yes.  We make it easy for Employers and Employees with our sophisticated software which is simple to use.

Yes.  We make it easy for Employers and Employees with our sophisticated software which is simple to use.

No, our step-by-step benefit quoting tool makes it easy to identify which items will be of the most benefit to you.

With FAA you can start Salary Packaging as soon as your Employer agrees for you to be able to do so.

Each Employer has different payroll processes, but FAA can support an instant start-up as soon as you and your Employer meet the requirements.

Yes, Salary Packaging is usually on a user pays basis.

All fees are paid from your Tax Savings with no fees requiring to be paid directly from you whilst you continue to Salary Package.

Should you cease your Salary Packaging within one year of commencement, then you will be responsible to pay for the remainder of the first year’s fees initially committed to.

Yes, the ATO allows you to claim items with substantiation (receipts).

There is no time limit to be able to claim for an item provided that:

• You were employed by that same Employer at the time of paying for the item:
• You or your associate have not previously claimed the item; and
• The item was not paid for by your Employer.

These expenses can be either paid for directly by your Employer; or

You can pay for them and have your Employer reimburse you.

Relocation Expenses are not Salary Packaged if they are reimbursements paid to you.

However, if your Employer is not paying these expenses for you, then you can package these items from your income in Pre-Tax deductions paid to your Salary Packaging Trust Account.

Basic list provided below:

• Employment Interviews and Selection Tests;
• Relocation Consultant Costs;
• Removal and storage of Household Effects;
• Home purchase costs, such as a buyer’s advocate;
• Connection or reconnection of utilities;
• Leasing of household goods; and
• Relocation transport.

The ATO provides a list of towns that qualify to be able to claim Remote Area Benefits.

If in doubt ask your payroll staff, or reach out to FAA for assistance.

List of Remote Area Benefits items that can be claimed:

• Remote Area Housing Benefit – rent or mortgage;
• Residential fuel – electrical, gas and wood fuel costs;
• Remote Area Holiday Travel;
• Costs of travel to an interview (provided you get the job);
• Relocation costs to a new Employer working in a designated remote area.

Yes, Remote Area Benefit does not count towards any Cap limit you may have.

This depends on the following:

• Some items are fully exempt of FBT – eg 50% of your Residential Rent
• Some items attract only a portion of the FBT to be paid – eg Home Mortgage Interest
• If your Employer doesn’t qualify, but you live and work in a Remote Area, then the Employer will be responsible for the full amount of FBT payable.

The reporting burden was considered too high to offer it as a benefit from Employers; and there has been a very poor understanding and education on the benefit.

FAA’s online software lifts that burden, making it simple and easy for Employers and Employees to access and manage these benefits for significant financial gain.

No.

• Remote Area Benefit relates to items that an Employee can Salary Package through their Employers payroll in Pre-Tax income; whereas
• Remote Area Allowance is a regular extra payment to recipients of a social security pension, allowance or benefit in Ordinary Tax Zone A (including, with certain exceptions, Special Tax Zone A) and Special Tax Zone B.

Some expenses that you can claim include:

• Airfares;
• Meals (on route only);
• Holiday accommodation;
• Travel to and from your holiday in your own car; and
• Hire car whilst on holiday.

Your holiday must be at least three working days.

The town you lived at immediately before moving to your new residence, or to the capital city of the State or Territory in which your new workplace is located.

You can only claim car expenses in a car owned or leased by you or hire cars.

You can claim approved expenses incurred by yourself, your partner and your children.

No, you can only claim your travel expenses through Salary Packaging.

Either way is fine – it is your choice.

You will need to complete the following via your Online Portal:

• Remote Area Holiday Travel Declaration; and
• Evidence of payment such as receipts to be uploaded into your Online Portal.

The ATO clarifies this within their website, but it must be checked before implementing:

1. It is an allowance you pay your Employee in respect of the employment of that Employee.
2. The duties of their employment require them to live away from their normal residence.
3. The whole or part of the allowance is in the nature of compensation for:

• non-deductible additional expenses your Employee might be expected to incur, or
• non-deductible additional expenses your Employee might be expected to incur and other disadvantages suffered, because the duties of your Employee’s job require them to live away from their normal residence.

The following items:

• Rent (This can be the entire amount of rent an Employee has to pay as part of LAFHA.)
• Food (This can include groceries but cannot include items that are not food.)
• Utilities and extras (Connection of basic utilities and cost of storage, shifting and insurance)

You will need to complete the following via your Online Portal:

• 2 x consecutive payslips
• Proof of two recent rent payments
• Copy of current tenancy agreement

No.

LAFHA is being able to claim the additional expenses an Employee might be expected to incur because the duties of their job require them to live away from their normal residence.  These expenses have favourable FBT treatment as described within the FAQ’s above.

Travel Allowance is an amount of money paid to compensate for expenses incurred whilst travelling on business duties.  This allowance is taxed at your normal rate, but you then claim each expense incurred as a deduction when doing your annual Tax Return.

Yes.

There are three methods;

• The payment of an allowance to you by your Employer
• The reimbursement of expenses which you incur by your Employer
• The direct provision of a benefit by your Employer. For example, the provision of living accommodation for you whilst you are away

There is no direct cost to Employers.

FAA has encoded the ATO rules for Salary Packaging into sophisticated accounting software that is simple to use.  Our software is audited for assurance by licensed Tax Agents.

Any New, Used or currently owned road-legal eBike.

You must use your eBike to commute to work at times throughout the year and personal use that is minor, infrequent and irregular.

No, an eBike is not a car and is Conditionally Exempt, so no post-Tax contribution is required.

You must be able to ride it on public roads as you commute to work.

Check with your States Department of Transport which may define road-legal as:

• Power Assisted Pedal Cycles (200 watts maximum) or
• an EN15194 Certified Power Assisted Pedal Cycle (Pedelec, 250 watts maximum).

Check before you buy, the fines are very significant.

Process below:

• The Employer pays the money from the Employees pay in Pre-Tax dollars to run the eBike Lease including all running costs to the Trust Account run by FAA for Employees;
• Then FAA pays all Lease costs into a Separate Trust Account run by FAA for Associates;
• All Lease and service costs are then paid from Trust Account for the Associate.

Yes, there are totally separated accounts as described below:

• The actual monies are retained in separate Trust Accounts at the bank;
• The Associate and Employee have separate accounts within the Salary Packaging software so they have separate logins;
• There is separate reporting for each entity.

Whatever costs are expended on the eBike, will be reimbursed from the Associate’s Trust Account via the Associates online Portal once substantiation is uploaded and approved.

If the Associate is registered for GST: Business Activity Statement (BAS) is completed each reporting period claiming the GST Credits back into the Associate Trust Account.

If Associate is not registered for GST:  The only refundable GST is on the FAA Fees and these are refunded into the Employees Trust Account from your Employer.  All other expenses are paid from the Separate Trust Account set up for the Associate which will not be able to claim the GST Credits.

No.  You can only Lease an eBike from another person who owns the eBike.

If there is no record of ownership of the existing eBike, your Associate can assume ownership to be able to Lease it to you.

If there is record of ownership such as a receipt with your name on it for the purchase of the existing eBike, you can transfer the ownership to your Associate in a simple handwritten transfer document between yourselves.

Yes, FAA Full Maintained Associate Leasing model is independent of how it is purchased.

The Associate can pay cash, use a Credit Card, organise a personal loan to purchase their eBike

Proof of reasonable market value can be documented by saving evidence of comparable eBikes for sale from sites that represent fair value that ‘reference’ quoted market price, that are comparable to your bike like: Gumtree, FB Marketplace and Bike Exchange.

You just save this ‘reference’ (from above) as a screenshot, picture etc, and simply upload into the FAA software that the Associate is using to determine the value of the eBike that they are going to Lease to you.

Yes; Your Associate can arrange all necessary insurance.

Yes.

Yes; but your personal use must comply with the minor, infrequent and irregular usage requirements.

If it is insured, your insurance will either replace the eBike or provide a credit for the value.  Your existing FMAL will cease and a new FMAL can be started.

If no insurance, buy a new eBike if you would like to Salary Package an eBike. Your existing FMAL will cease and a new FMAL can be started.

If you stay with the same Employer, this will have no impact on your arrangements.

If you have a new Employer, you need to transfer the FMAL if your new Employer allows it, or terminate the FMAL.

This is irrelevant to the FMAL.  This can be agreed upon by you and your Associate at the start of the lease by personal agreement.

Yes, so long as the Package purchase includes the accessories.

No, aftermarket purchases that are not replacements or maintenance cannot be packaged.

Yes, like for like. The ATO will not accept if you claim a $2,000 wheel to replace a damaged $120 wheel.

No, but you have to declare to the ATO that your use will comply with the minor, infrequent and irregular personal use terms.

Yes, FAA can arrange finance for the Associate where the repayments are made from the Associates Trust Account.

Just like cars, the price range is large.  A serviceable entry-level eBike can be from less than $1,000 to $20,000.

For the serious enthusiast, a ‘hard core’ road or mountain bike, also suitable to use to ride to work, can cost in excess of $20,000 – but it is always going to be your choice.

You are effectively buying a bike plus a:

• ruggedised computer control system;
• $400 – $5,000 worth of batteries; and
• An electric motor that weighs less than 3kg, can push 100kg at 25km/h and take the bumps and weather.

Yes, the Carbon footprint meets the ISO14067 standard.

No, eBikes are conditionally exempt and are therefore are in addition to above the Exemption or rebate Cap.