Overview of benefits

Introduction

Calculating Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) starts with attributing fringe benefits to employees or pools.

While the FBT attribution calculation technically occurs annually in the fourth quarter, it's advisable to attribute benefits to employees quarterly. This practice reduces workload in the fourth quarter and enhances accuracy by minimising data entry errors.  

Quarterly process

The quarterly process for managing benefits should typically involve the following:

• Review Benefit categories and related pooling category settings.
• Add or import benefits, including allocation of benefits to employees or pools.
• Review and edit benefits and resulting tax calculations to ensure your data looks correct for the quarter.
• Delete benefits that are not required or may have been accidently added or imported.

Once benefits are added, both FBT and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are automatically calculated based on specified rates, populating FBT reports and returns.

Private use of motor vehicle benefits

Motor vehicle benefits are separately calculated due to their special valuation rules, but their results are integrated into the Benefits screen for centralised organisation and review of benefit values, FBT, and GST.