Important News About 2010 Fringe Benefits Tax

Are you providing a Fringe Benefit?

Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) is a tax payable by an employer in respect of various benefits provided to employees.

If you have provided non-cash benefits to any of your employees (including Directors) throughout the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010 (the 2010 FBT year), your business may be liable to pay FBT.

FBT is separate from income tax and GST and is based on the "taxable value" of the various fringe benefits you provide.

Some common Fringe Benefits include:

Motor Vehicles
Entertainment and Meals
Short Term Loans
Various expenses paid on employee's / Director's behalf

What You Need to Do First

To identify if you have a FBT liability, please CLICK HERE to download our FBT Questionnaire from our web site at www.sbs.net.au (or you can ring our office on (07) 3221 1100 and request a copy of this FBT Questionnaire to be posted or faxed to you).

PLEASE NOTE: We realise that you may not have lodged a FBT Return in prior years, and many of the questions in the FBT Questionnaire may not apply to you, but for completeness we request that you consider all FBT categories that may apply to you each FBT year.

If you are 100% certain that FBT does NOT apply to your business, then you do NOT need to fill out or return the FBT Questionnaire to us. However, if you have ANY uncertainty whatsoever about this, please ring our office IMMEDIATELY to discuss your situation with your Accountant.

You will need to fill in the questionnaire to the best of your ability and don't forget to sign it! Please also provide us with the additional information requested in the Questionnaire where necessary. If you need any assistance, our team will be glad to help. You will need to complete a copy of this questionnaire for EACH business entity that you control.

If You Have a FBT Obligation

Please forward your FBT information to our office as soon as possible so that we can lodge it with the ATO by the due date of 21 May 2010. If we don’t receive your FBT information and documents by Friday 7 May 2010, we cannot guarantee that your return will be lodged by the due date. Penalties and interest can be charged by the ATO for late lodgement and payment.

If you are aware of any circumstances that may delay you sending us your FBT information, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can apply for an extension with the ATO.

Compliance with the FBT Rules

The ATO has stated recently in the press that they are being more aggressive with FBT audits in the 2010 year. It is very important to ensure that you comply with all current tax laws. We will continue to help you to achieve this.

The attached FBT Questionnaire is a good starting point to make certain that you avoid any fines and penalties for non-compliance with the FBT laws.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries or would like any further information about the attached FBT Questionnaire.

We look forward to hearing from you again soon!

Kind regards