2015/16 Salary Sacrifice Update

 As you may be aware, the 2015 federal budget has introduced a cap on the exempt FBT benefits available to Public Benevolent Institutions (PBI’s).

Currently employees of a PBI are able to salary sacrifice up to between $14,498 (GST inclusive expenses) and $15,900 (GST exclusive expenses) per annum with no FBT implications, representing the $31,117 grossed-up exemption cap. In addition to this FBT exemption cap, eligible workers can salary sacrifice meal/entertainment and leisure/accommodation benefits with no FBT payable by the employer and without the benefits being reported on the employee’s year-end payment summary.

As part of the 2015 budget reforms, the Government have now introduced a separate single grossed-up cap of $5,000 for salary sacrificed meal/entertainment and leisure/accommodation claimable by workers.

From 1 April 2016, the amount that any employee can spend on meal entertainment and accommodation exempt from FBT will be limited to an annual limit of $2,300 and $2,550 depending on whether the items are subject to GST (i.e. taking the employee to the $5,000 grossed-up cap). Meal entertainment and accommodation benefits exceeding this separate grossed-up cap of $5,000 will be counted in calculating whether an employee exceeds their existing overall FBT exemption cap.

All meal/entertainment and leisure/accommodation benefits will also become reportable on the payment summaries issued to employees at the end of the financial year.