The ATO has advised employers that ‘FBT time’ is just around the corner, and they need to stay on top of their fringe benefits tax (FBT) obligations.

Employers need to ensure they have attended to the following matters this FBT time:

• Identify if they have an FBT liability regarding fringe benefits they have provided to their employees or their associates between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.
• Identify if they have an FBT liability as they will need to lodge an FBT return and pay the amount due by 21 May.
• Identify if they are currently registered for FBT and let the ATO know if they do not need to lodge an FBT return (Editor: by asking us to lodge an FBT non-lodgment notice) to prevent the ATO seeking a return from them at a later date.

Employers should also remember that when the new FBT year starts on 1 April, they can choose to use existing records instead of travel diaries and declarations for some fringe benefits. Furthermore, the ATO has released PCG 2024/2 which provides a short cut method to help work out the cost of charging electric vehicles (‘EV’) at an employee’s home for FBT purposes.

Eligible employers can choose to use either the EV home charging rate of 4.2 cents per kilometre or the actual cost.

Ultimately, all employers need to make sure they understand their FBT obligations and the records they need to keep to avoid an FBT liability.

The ATO has recently issued a reminder that small business owners may be eligible for concessions on the amount of tax they ultimately pay.

This depends on their business structure, their industry and their aggregated annual turnover.

For example, small business owners who have an aggregated annual turnover of less than:

1. $2 million can access the small business CGT concessions;
2. $5 million can access the small business income tax offset; and
3. $10 million can access the small business restructure roll-over.

The ATO expects small business owners to check their eligibility each year before they apply for any of these concessions.

Furthermore, taxpayers generally need to keep records for five years to prove any claims they make.

Editor: We are always on the look-out for what tax concessions may be of use to our clients based on their individual circumstances. These small business concessions in particular, can be very beneficial when applicable.

The big news story for those contributing to super is that the contribution caps are set to increase from the 2025 income year.

• The concessional contribution cap will increase from $27,500 to $30,000. This ‘CC’ cap is broadly applicable to employer super guarantee contributions, personal deductible contributions and salary sacrificed contributions.
• The non-concessional contribution cap will increase from $110,000 to $120,000. This ‘NCC’ cap is generally applicable to personal non-deductible contributions.

The increase in the NCC cap also means that the maximum available under the three-year bring forward provisions will increase from $330,000 to $360,000. This is provided that the ‘bring forward’ is triggered on or after 1 July 2024.

The ‘total superannuation balance’ threshold for being able to make non-concessional contributions (and the pension general transfer balance cap) will remain at $1.9 million.