salary sacrificing travel

[parsonstrish]

I was very excited when the financial advisor told me I could s.s. for travel. I have been doing it now since Sept. '09.

I rang the company I s.s. with today to find out how to claim. I was told I need a tax receipt or something to that effect.

I don't have an abn number and I can't figure out how to get a tax receipt from either qantas or hilton. Two companies I mainly deal with when travelling. I was told they don't accept my e-receipt from QF and I imagine that would also apply to Hilton.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. I thought I was on a winner, but no good if I can't claim.

 

[markis10]

I am not sure what you are talking about, you can ask the tax office not to have tax taken out of your travel allowance, which also allows for resonable expenses to be claimed without receipts. If there is not tax being paid then thats the same as pre tax dollars??

 

[Mwenenzi]

I expect you need to suppliers tax invoice. E tickets from QF have the words "Tax Invioce" on them. Likewise the Hiton will.

 

[medhead]

Do you work for a PBI organisation? I'm not 100% sure but i think that you are only able to salary package personal travel if you work of a PBI. In which case there is no point packaging travel as the total you can salary package per year is currently limited to $9094 and you are better off packaging your mortgage payments or credit card payments. This is because it is easier to get the prove of mortgage payments as evidenced by your question.

Ohh and I'm just looking at an e-ticket itinerary and I reckon it satisfies the requirements to be a tax invoice. It says tax invoice, the amount of gst paid, that the amount owing has been paid. That covers the main rules to be a tax invoice.

 

[parsonstrish]

Do you work for a PBI organisation? I'm not 100% sure but i think that you are only able to salary package personal travel if you work of a PBI. In which case there is no point packaging travel as the total you can salary package per year is currently limited to $9094 and you are better off packaging your mortgage payments or credit card payments. This is because it is easier to get the prove of mortgage payments as evidenced by your question.

Ohh and I'm just looking at an e-ticket itinerary and I reckon it satisfies the requirements to be a tax invoice. It says tax invoice, the amount of gst paid, that the amount owing has been paid. That covers the main rules to be a tax invoice.

thanks Medhead. I looked at my latest qf e-ticket and it says receipt and tax invoice on it. According to what I was advised, this will meet the requirements. I work for Qld. Health and I don't have a mortgage and in our s.s., we aren't allowed to s.s. c.c. payments unfortunately. I was advised I can s.s. personal travel by the financial advisor so I'm taking t as correct.

I can't find any tax invoice writing on Hilton confirmation for hotel booking, so looks as though I'm out of luck there.

Thanks for your help.

 

[aus_flyer]

Salary sacrificing after the event is generally not a valid salary sacrifice arrangement and may be denied by the tax office.

I'd suggest reading the info on the ATO website.

 

[medhead]

Salary sacrificing after the event is generally not a valid salary sacrifice arrangement and may be denied by the tax office.

I'd suggest reading the info on the ATO website.

Working for an organisation with PBI status and most of those rules get thrown out. I've just claimed for my mortgage payments for future salary but using "receipts" from the last 2 years. I'm not going to mention the other rorts.

Not sure about QLD health, but I'd guess a non-PBI organisation.

 

[MrJetset]

Do you work for a PBI organisation? I'm not 100% sure but i think that you are only able to salary package personal travel if you work of a PBI. In which case there is no point packaging travel as the total you can salary package per year is currently limited to $9094 and you are better off packaging your mortgage payments or credit card payments. This is because it is easier to get the prove of mortgage payments as evidenced by your question.

Ohh and I'm just looking at an e-ticket itinerary and I reckon it satisfies the requirements to be a tax invoice. It says tax invoice, the amount of gst paid, that the amount owing has been paid. That covers the main rules to be a tax invoice.

Agreed. It's easy to salary sacrifice regular, ongoing expenses like mortgage, car payments etc. I bought my car in full and it saves me the hassle that my colleagues experience having to find their receipts every month. My car will cover me for a good seven years.

 

[JohnK]

What is a PBI organisation? And why are some people able to salary sacrifice personal travel?

Quite sad really when someone like me commutes SYD-BNE almost weekly to work and I can only legally claim about $3,000 a year for the first couple of years.

 

[jas]

PBI=Public Benovolent Institution. Think charities and such, salary packaging is a tax break for staff.

If memory serves, PBI you can package $16050 of expenses a year, and health organisation $9095 (I'm in the latter at present)

 

[medhead]

Quite sad really when someone like me commutes SYD-BNE almost weekly to work and I can only legally claim about $3,000 a year for the first couple of years.

Can I PM you about this? As I've just started a similar weekly communte and I'm wondering what the rules are and what circumstances might allow for claiming something.

 

[hazel]

Hi - I work for a PBI & I was sent this a couple of weeks ago - & also when claiming travel my credit card statement showing the purchase with the airline has been accepted.

From 1st July 2009, the ATO released an Interpretative Decision ruling (ID 2009/45) allowing employees of a PBI or HPC to claim holiday accommodation and venue hire as an exempt item. This means you can pay for accommodation bookings ie. Hotels, Motels, Caravans, Cabins, B&Bs, or Venue Hire – corporate boxes etc with pre tax dollars on top of any other Salary Packaging. This benefit is available anywhere in Australia or overseas

 

[Cynicor]

I'm no accountant so a brief look at this ruling wasn't enough. Does anyone know if this mean I can sacrifice any trips/hotel rooms if employed by a public hospital, or is it only in relation to those trips reimbursed by the hospital/employer.

 

[hazel]

Hi - it is for personal travel and can be backdated from July 2009.
The options are:

You may choose to set aside funds each pay day for
future expenses and be reimbursed
when a completed claim form and original invoices are
received​

Or​

Post your claim form with original invoices
advising xx_X the amount you would like to package
per pay cycle and we can reimburse the total of the
submitted tax invoice/s to your nominated bank​

account as funds are packaged.

 

[docjames]

Interesting, I thought ss was only for "work-related travel" which is kinda-pointless given it can be tax deducted anyway......

I wasnt aware you could ss private travel???

edit: well there you go, apparently you can, but it attracts FBT (so negates most of the benefit.)

 

[medhead]

Interesting, I thought ss was only for "work-related travel" which is kinda-pointless given it can be tax deducted anyway......

I wasnt aware you could ss private travel???

edit: well there you go, apparently you can, but it attracts FBT (so negates most of the benefit.)

The rules for a PBI are different. Basically if your employed by a PBI a range of expenses that are normally subject to FBT are FBT exempt. So things like personal travel is FBT exempt if you work for a PBI.

My new employer is a public hospital and hence I get the PBI benefit, but my employer only offers a limited range of benefits - mortgage, credit card or personal loan payments. The benefit limit is only $9095, which I easier cover with the mortgage so there is no real point worrying doing SS for personal travel. Especially as, if I SS for two types of benefit the admin fee doubles.

 

[fiscal]

Interesting, I thought ss was only for "work-related travel" which is kinda-pointless given it can be tax deducted anyway......

Interestingly, a travel consultant who pays for their own trips to familiarize themselves with the products or destinations they sell (work related), is not eligible for a tax deduction, and that includes formal "educationals".

However, if the travel agency states that travel is an essential part of the consultants job, and will agree to pay for the travel to these destinations, along with a salary reduction statergy, then there is no FBT to the employer, and the consultant gets a reduced salary and therefore reduced tax.

 

[Dougo]

Ohh and I'm just looking at an e-ticket itinerary and I reckon it satisfies the requirements to be a tax invoice. It says tax invoice, the amount of gst paid, that the amount owing has been paid. That covers the main rules to be a tax invoice.

Medhead, as much as I don't like to admit it, as a former ATO officer, I can tell you that "near enough" is not good enough for the ATO. Here are the "rules" for what constitutes a "valid tax inoice". I can also tell you I rejected claims if those rules weren't met.

What is a valid tax invoice?

A valid tax invoice for taxable sales that total less than $1,000 must contain:

• the words ‘tax invoice’ stated prominently
• the name of the supplier
• the ABN of the supplier
• the date of issue of the tax invoice
• a brief description of the goods or services sold
• the total price of the sales (including GST).

Where the GST to be paid is:

• exactly one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount separately or provide a statement such as ‘total price includes GST’,or
• less than one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount and the total amount excluding GST for the sales.

A valid tax invoice for taxable sales that total $1,000 or more must contain:

• the words ‘tax invoice’ stated prominently
• the name of the supplier
• the ABN of the supplier
• the name of the recipient
• the address or ABN of the recipient
• the date of issue of the tax invoice
• the quantity of the goods or the extent of the services sold
• a brief description of the things sold
• the total price of the sale (including GST).

Where the GST to be paid is:

• exactly one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount separately or provide a statement such as ‘total price includes GST’
• less than one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount and the total amount excluding GST for the sales.

A valid tax invoice for both a taxable sale and either a GST-free or input taxed sale, must also:

• clearly identify each taxable sale
• show the total amount of GST to be paid
• show the total amount payable for the sales.

Your tax invoice must contain this information before you use it to work out the correct amount of GST credit you can claim. This is because the amount of GST included on such an invoice will be less than one-eleventh of the total price you are liable to pay.

Note: Terms such as ‘total price includes GST’ or similar wording are not sufficient for invoices for both taxable sales and either a GST-free or input taxed sales
Source
- Valid tax invoices and GST credits

 

[medhead]

Medhead, as much as I don't like to admit it, as a former ATO officer, I can tell you that "near enough" is not good enough for the ATO. Here are the "rules" for what constitutes a "valid tax inoice". I can also tell you I rejected claims if those rules weren't met.

What is a valid tax invoice?


A valid tax invoice for taxable sales that total less than $1,000 must contain:

• the words ‘tax invoice’ stated prominently
• the name of the supplier
• the ABN of the supplier
• the date of issue of the tax invoice
• a brief description of the goods or services sold
• the total price of the sales (including GST).

Where the GST to be paid is:

• exactly one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount separately or provide a statement such as ‘total price includes GST’,or
• less than one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount and the total amount excluding GST for the sales.

A valid tax invoice for taxable sales that total $1,000 or more must contain:

• the words ‘tax invoice’ stated prominently
• the name of the supplier
• the ABN of the supplier
• the name of the recipient
• the address or ABN of the recipient
• the date of issue of the tax invoice
• the quantity of the goods or the extent of the services sold
• a brief description of the things sold
• the total price of the sale (including GST).

Where the GST to be paid is:

• exactly one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount separately or provide a statement such as ‘total price includes GST’
• less than one-eleventh of the total price, show the GST amount and the total amount excluding GST for the sales.

A valid tax invoice for both a taxable sale and either a GST-free or input taxed sale, must also:

• clearly identify each taxable sale
• show the total amount of GST to be paid
• show the total amount payable for the sales.

Your tax invoice must contain this information before you use it to work out the correct amount of GST credit you can claim. This is because the amount of GST included on such an invoice will be less than one-eleventh of the total price you are liable to pay.

Note: Terms such as ‘total price includes GST’ or similar wording are not sufficient for invoices for both taxable sales and either a GST-free or input taxed sales
Source
- Valid tax invoices and GST credits

Dougo my first thought was "good on ya". My second thought was I'm well aware of the tax invoice rules, thank you for your help.

My third thought was that it is only relevant if you get audited.

But good on you for listing the rules, I shouldn't really rely on my memory despite how easy the requirements are to remember. I also think that the QF document covers all those things.

BTW as a former ATO officer, in what circumstances can I claim travel if I'm living in Adelaide but working in Sydney. Also in such a circumstances how direct does my travel from a workplace in Sydney to work in Adelaide have to be? given the distances involved can it be an overnight trip?

 

[Dougo]

BTW as a former ATO officer, in what circumstances can I claim travel if I'm living in Adelaide but working in Sydney. Also in such a circumstances how direct does my travel from a workplace in Sydney to work in Adelaide have to be? given the distances involved can it be an overnight trip?

LOL - nice try...but really I have no idea anymore as new rulings come into force all the time ...give them a call and ask and make sure you also ask for the legislative reference, ie, Act, clause number etc ... just in case.