News and Views Podcast Show · Sarah Power: Director of Business Concepts Group, Financial Planner and Accountant

NV157: 2025 FBT

·20 min·1 clip

The ATO is forcing monthly BAS lodging for problem accounts—it's a last-chance warning.

FBT is where this one begins. Sarah Power sets up a 2025 fringe benefits tax update, with Chris Reid helping turn the rules into examples that feel closer to the day-to-day business mess. The tone is careful, and for good reason. Benefits are not treated as harmless extras just because they sit near work. The question keeps coming back to whether something is over and above salary and wages. Cars carry most of the conversation. The issue is not simply the vehicle type, the signage, or where it is parked. It is how the vehicle is actually used. Personal use still counts. Driving a work vehicle to and from work every day, then parking it in the work car park, can still be treated as personal use and fall into FBT. The speakers spend time correcting assumptions without making it dramatic. Many businesses may not understand what counts as a fringe benefit, what might be exempt, and what definitely needs a closer look. Vehicles are the obvious example, but meals, entertainment-type benefits, and benefits for yourself, employees, or family members all belong in the same review pile. The ATO is watching cars. Fleet cars, car sharing, cars stored at work, the logbook method, and state registration data matching all get named. Smaller operators may need the basics first: what creates a car fringe benefit, then what to do if one exists. Nil returns get a practical nod too. Lodging one can give peace of mind, because not lodging may leave earlier years exposed if mistakes turn up later. The takeaway stays plain: FBT gets complex quickly, so unsure businesses should get professional advice before assuming there is nothing to declare.

As heard by us

A practical FBT refresher for businesses heading toward the 31 March deadline.

This episode gives employers a practical FBT reset ahead of the 31 March deadline. It stays focused on the parts people miss: what counts, what gets overlooked, and where the ATO is likely to look.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Need a plain-English FBT reset before the March deadlines?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from News and Views Podcast Show