The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) says the Government should look at FBT to make some inroads to its commitment to reducing regulatory red tape. “The IPA believes that shifting FBT from employers to employees would provide a more equitable solution to many of the current problems. Taxing fringe benefits at the employee level has the potential to deliver greater neutrality in the treatment of cash and non-cash remuneration while reducing the compliance costs for both employers and employees,” said IPA Senior Tax Advisor Tony Greco.
Mr Greco said there were “a number of anomalies in the FBT rules which have been allowed to exist for too long and should be addressed by any responsible government”. As an example, Mr Greco said the “use of uncapped access to FBT exemptions for restaurant meals and the hire of entertainment facilities for private purposes are highly discriminatory and need to be immediately reined in on equity grounds”. Mr Greco said if the incidence of FBT is transferred to employees, then an alternative mechanism for funding FBT tax concessions will need to be considered.
Source: IPA media release, 19 March 2014
[LTN 54, 20/3/14]