The AAT has held that car-parking facilities provided by a taxpayer (an airline) to its employees in certain locations were subject to FBT for the 2007 to 2010 FBT years.
The taxpayer and its associates provided car parking facilities to their employees whose primary places of work were at or near airports in major capital cities. Each of the airports (except for Canberra airport) had either both long term and/or short term parking facilities that were available to members of the public. The taxpayer broadly argued that the short and long term car parks at the airports were not commercial parking stations as defined in s 136(1) of the FBTAA as they were not provided principally, or primarily for use by commuters driving their cars to and from work.
The AAT held that the “statute is not expressed to, and does not seek to, differentiate parking facilities by reference to any confined class of intended primary or predominant customers or users as contended by [the taxpayer]”. Further, it said the legislation does not include any requirement that the commercial parking station must have primary intended users or uses (ie for commuters driving their car to work as the taxpayer contends). Therefore, the AAT affirmed the Commissioner’s objection decision and held that the taxpayer was liable for FBT associated with parking provided to employees at all airports other than the Canberra airport.
In relation to the Canberra airport, the AAT found that because there were no parking spaces available to members of the public and there was no commercial parking station within 1 km of the premises, s 39A(1)(a)(ii) of the FBTAA was not satisfied, hence the taxpayer was not liable for FBT for parking provided to employees.
(AAT Case [2014] AATA 316, Re Qantas Airways Ltd and FCT, AAT, Ref No 2012/5119-5122, Benjamin J and O’Loughlin SM, 20 May 2014.)
[LTN 96, 21/5/14]