Going to see Strictly Ballroom at The Star? Here is some cheap parking for you!

Baz Luhrmann’s hit theatre Strictly Ballroom has arrived at The Star. This inspiring play is rated as one of the best going around, with many shows selling out fast, promising a big crowd each night. This means that parking will be at a premium on the night, so it is best to get in early to avoid the queues and secure the best parking spot!

There is parking available on-site at The Star which provides convenient parking, as it is adjacent to the Casino, however cheap parking can also be found nearby at Harbourside. The cheapest rate will vary depending on the time of day that you plan to visit – we advise that you search on CarParking.info to find the best spot to park your car!

Best Car Parking for Bondi Winter Magic Ice Rink in June & July 2014

The Winter Magic Ice Rink is being held again at Bondi Pavilion in 2014. Whether you are going to ice skate at Australia’s only beachside ice rink during the day or evening, we have found the best spots to park your car.

Bondi Beach Car Park is the closest as it is right on the beach and next to the ice rink. This is the most convenient parking for the Winter Magic Ice Rink but not always the cheapest as there is some free parking in Bondi, but not next to the beach so there might be a bit of a walk involved. To find out more information on the best parking for the day and time you are gong to Bondi, search on CarParking.info

Cheap Parking at Rockpool Bar & Grill steakhouse in Sydney CBD

Rockpool Bar & Grill, located on Hunter Street in the heart of the Sydney CBD, is one of the most popular restaurants in town. To create the most enjoyable experience while dining there, we have come up with some locations where parking is cheap and close to the restaurant itself.

There is parking available close by at Australia Square, as well as other parking alternatives nearby such as Quay West and Wentworth Hotel. for a full comparison of the cheapest rates and closest car parks at the time you are looking for, visit www.carparking.info.

Cheap Parking near The Star Casino, Pyrmont- Best for watching 2014 FIFA World Cup Matches

The Sports Bar inside the Star Casino, Sydney is going to be Sydney’s hub for watching Fifa World Cup football matches live during June and July. We know that these late nights may be a hassle to find parking close in proximity to the venue, so we have compiled a list of car parks around Pyrmont to save you money and time when visiting The Star Casino to watching the football.

There is parking available on-site at The Star which provides the closest parking to the Casino, however cheap parking can also be found nearby at Harbourside. The cheapest rate will vary depending on the time of day that you plan to visit – we advise that you search on CarParking.info to find the best spot to park your car!

The Light in Winter 2014 Melbourne Best Parking

The Light in Winter Festival in Federation Square, Melbourne is on again in June 2014. If you are going to the festival, we have all the information regarding the best and cheapest car parking so you don’t have to worry about getting ripped off for parking and can just enjoy the festival.

The closest parking can be found at the Car Park on Flinders Street. This car park also has an Evening Rate which makes it one of the cheapest in the area at night. Rates may differ depending on the day, time and duration, hence we advise that you search on CarParking.info to find the best parking spot

Best Cheap Parking for Vivid Sydney 2014

If you are heading into see the Vivid light festival in Sydney, Darling Harbour this year, we have all the car parking information to make sure you have cheap and close parking to Vivid.

The closest parking can be found at Harbourside Car Park. Cheap Parking can be found at the Allianz Centre which has a special evening rate. Depending on the day and time the cheapest rate will vary – we advise that you search on CarParking.info to find the best spot

 

Motor Vehicle Logbook Solution – LogbookMe

A new motor vehicle and car logbook solution has just been launched for Australia. LogbookMe is a cloud-based logbook solution, which uses some really clever features to solve some of the painful processes of keeping a tax logbook for your car.

The main feature is that it uses a device, which plugs into your car and extracts trip information in real-time while you drive. Then you can log trips using their smartphone apps for extra convenience.

It’s all ATO compliant and has a web portal where you can access and manage your account, as well as download a nice logbook PDF report at the end of your reporting period.

Another cool feature is the calendar integration, this is a great time saver and allows you to integrate your calendar to automatically match meetings to trips.

More information is available at http://www.logbookme.com.au

 

The cost of parking

Australian cities are amongst the most expensive in the world for parking. Aussies are expected to pay a premium at airports and beaches. Check out this infographic created by Allianz Car Insurance showing exactly how much it costs.

Find out how much you can expect to pay to park your car in Australia's CBD, airports, and Sydney's popular beaches.
Infographic by: Allianz Australia Car Insurance.

FBT & Car Parking – Savings, Concessions & Some Tips to Consider

FBT & Car Parking – Savings, Concessions & Some Tips to Consider

Under the FBT legislation, the provision of car parking by the employer to employees can be taxed in a variety of ways. This is primarily due to the diversity in which an employer is able to provide a “parking” benefit. Secondary to this is the complexity of the FBT law, which can naturally lead to confusion, misunderstandings and errors.

With the 2013 FBT year end just around the corner on 31 March, park yourself up for a few minutes and we will share some thoughts ….

Exempt car parking or car parking not subject to FBT

Car parking can be exempt or not subject to FBT for a number of reasons, including:

  • There is no commercial parking station (CPS) within a 1 kilometre radius of the premises where the employer provides the car parking that charges more than the daily threshold amount as its lowest fee for a full day of parking on the first day of the FBT year – that’s a mouthful. The threshold is adjusted each year. For the FBT year ended 31 March 2013 the threshold amount is $7.83 per day (2012 $7.71).
  • There is no CPS within a 1 kilometre radius. FULL STOP
  • When the employee parks their car in the employer provided car parking space for a 24 hour midnight to midnight period. This is often the case where an employee is travelling.
  • When the car is parked in the car parking space for less than 4 hours in total between 7am and 7pm. This could arise in respect of an employee in a sales role who is on the road most of the time or a shift worker who starts work late in the afternoon or finishes early in the morning.
  • When the parking fee is provided (reimbursed) in respect of business travel. The key here is being sure that the car parking fee has been incurred whilst on business travel.

It’s important to check on your businesses particular circumstances, locations, car parking policy and reimbursement policy, to see if the above exemptions and reductions may apply.

Fully taxable car parking

This is the one to avoid! Can result in a nasty FBT bill and a reportable fringe benefit for the employee!

Often arises (unknowingly) due to employee’s sourcing their own car space agreement and then entering into arrangement whereby the employer reimburses the employee monthly for the monthly car parking lease fee.

Let me illustrate:

An employee leases a car space for the 2013 FBT year in their own name for $880 per month including GST. The employer reimburses the employee on a monthly basis.

The lowest CPS within a 1 kilometre charges an average daily rate of $12 including GST.

The FBT payable under the Statutory Formula Method (SFM) is $2,620. Car parking fringe benefits are not reportable on an employee’s 30 June 2013 payment summary.

However, and it’s a big however, as the employer provides the car parking by way of an expense payment reimbursement, then the benefit must be valued based on the amount reimbursed. So the above SFM calculation is not applicable and only useful in illustrating the resulting problem ….

The annual FBT payable on the monthly reimbursement of $880 is $10,139. Or a nasty $7,519 MORE TO PAY than under the SFM.

In addition, the employee will end up with an amount of $19,739 as a reportable fringe benefit on their 30 June 2013 payment summary.

Another situation that commonly arises where FBT is payable in full on car parking, is where an employer regularly reimburses an employee’s daily car parking fee. This may be an ongoing “policy” agreement between the employer and their employee/s due to a lack of car spaces in the employers premises or is often seen as being an equivalent cost to a taxi fare for employees who regularly are required to work late (in this case the taxi fares would be exempt from FBT).

However, where an employer regularly reimburses an employee’s daily car parking fee, then FBT will be payable in full on the total amount reimbursed. If the reimbursement is not so regular, then it may be possible to claim the minor benefit exemption. Although what’s regular and what’s irregular? We’ll park that story for another time!

Concessionally taxed car parking

This is where the fun starts! How low can you go? The lower the better = less FBT to pay! Why pay more FBT than you have to?

The Average Cost Method is easily the most common valuation method for concessionally taxed car parking. It is also the Method by which employers unknowingly (as is often the case), pay far more FBT than is required.

We illustrate below the significant savings employers can achieve using examples for 10, 20, 40 and 80 spaces, and average daily rates ranging from $18 down to $10. This potential reduction in average daily rates is indicative of what is achievable. A small reduction in the daily rate makes for a large FBT saving.

 

If you’ve got a sizeable FBT bill on your car parking or just think you’re paying way too much FBT on car parking – it’s time to take a closer look at the average daily rate and make sure that you’re not paying more FBT than required by the law.

Trends in car parking benefits:

Here are some of the trendy things happening with car parking:

Employee contribution method

More employers are allowing employees to make an after tax contribution to the provision of their car parking benefit. The works similar to novated lease arrangements

Cashing out

Cashing out the car parking benefit for salary and wages is certainly trendy but not necessarily popular. Cashing out can cause headaches for both the employees and the employer. From the employee perspective it can be challenging finding a cost effective long term parking solution. Whilst employers are usually motivated by reducing benefits to minimise administration, the cutting of car parking can lead to unhappy employees as they bring their car parking woes into the workplace.

The 12 week register method

The preparation of a 12 week car parking “logbook” register is often one way to reduce the FBT liability. This can be done on an employee by employee basis or more broadly. And like all FBT “logbooks”, once it’s completed, it remains valid for 5 years.

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If you’re involved in the year end FBT process and preparation or review of the FBT Returns – good luck. If your not involved, we hope the above gave you some useful insight into FBT & car parking.

Paul Mather

Director

FBT Solutions

paul.mather@fbtsolutions.com.au

www.carparkingfbtrates.com.au

www.fbtsolutions.com.au

 

 

2013 FBT Return Preparation Training Seminars in March 2013

2013 FBT Return Preparation Training Seminars - Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane

With an unprecedented number of law changes and increased ATO focus, attendance at an FBT Solutions 2013 FBT return preparation seminar is an absolute must do. Their 2013 FBT return preparation seminars will be practical and cover the important law changes for LAFHA, Relocations, Cars, Airline Transport Benefits and In-house Benefits, and how these will impact on your 2013 FBT returns.
They will work through the identification and valuation of all benefit categories, and explain what information and documentation is required to claim an exemption, concession or a reduction.
There are three full day FBT return preparation seminars on offer in March 2013. Spaces are limited to maximise learning.

The dates, locations and registration links are as follows:

Melbourne, Thursday 14 March – Register online here:  http://www.cvent.com/d/dcqx6v/1Q
Sydney, Wednesday 20 March – Register online here: 
http://www.cvent.com/d/dcqx6v/1Q
Brisbane, Wednesday 27 March – Register online here: 
http://www.cvent.com/d/dcqx6v/1Q
Alternatively, download and print out the registration form here: 
http://www.fbtsolutions.com.au/pdf/fbt_return2013_seminar.pdf

Pricing
Early bird – register by 25 January and you only pay $550 including GST.
On time bird – after 25 January, you pay $660 including GST.
Loyal bird – if you or one of your colleagues has previously attended an FBT Solutions seminar, reduce the applicable fee for each attendee by $55 – that’s their way of saying thank you for your loyalty.

CPD / CPE Hours -6.5 hours, a certificate in your name will be provided.

If you have a query on the seminars, would like to discuss a review of your FBT return or you’re after the lowest average car parking rates for FBT, please contact Paul Mather on 02 8079 2924 or paul.mather@fbtsolutions.com.au