PART III
-
FRINGE BENEFITS
Division 7
-
Living-away-from-home allowance fringe benefits
Subdivision B
-
Taxable value of living-away-from-home allowance fringe benefits
History
Subdiv B substituted by No 142 of 2012, s 3 and Sch 1 item 1, applicable in relation to an employee who, on or after 1 October 2012, lives away from his or her normal residence (whether a benefit provided for living away from that residence on or after that day was paid before, on or after that day). No 142 of 2012, s 3 and Sch 1 items 27 and 28 contain the following transitional provisions:
27 Transitional
-
existing employment arrangements
(1)
During the transitional period, disregard paragraph
31C(a)
and section
31D
of the
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
if:
(a)
the employee is neither a temporary resident nor a foreign resident; and
(b)
during the entire period:
(i)
starting at the Budget time; and
(ii)
ending on 30 September 2012;
that employment was covered by an eligible employment arrangement that was neither varied in a material way nor renewed.
(2)
During the transitional period, disregard section
31D
of the
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
if:
(a)
the employee is a temporary resident or a foreign resident; and
(b)
during the entire period:
(i)
starting at the Budget time; and
(ii)
ending on 30 September 2012;
that employment was covered by an eligible employment arrangement that was neither varied in a material way nor renewed.
(3)
In this item:
Budget time
means 7.30 pm, by legal time in the Australian Capital Territory, on 8 May 2012.
eligible employment arrangement
means an arrangement under which:
(a)
the employer; or
(b)
an associate of the employer;
commits to provide the employee with an allowance or benefit for the employee
'
s accommodation, food or drink while the duties of that employment require the employee to live away from his or her normal residence.
foreign resident
has the same meaning as in the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
.
temporary resident
has the same meaning as in the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
.
transitional period
means the period:
(a)
starting on 1 October 2012; and
(b)
ending at the earliest of:
(i)
30 June 2014; and
(ii)
the time the eligible employment arrangement referred to in paragraph (1)(b) or (2)(b) ends; and
(iii)
the first time that eligible employment arrangement is varied in a material way or renewed.
28 Transitional
-
first 12 months for existing arrangements
(1)
This item applies if, on 1 October 2012:
(a)
an employee
'
s duties of employment require the employee to live away from the place in Australia where he or she usually resides when in Australia; or
(b)
the employee expects that his or her duties of employment will require him or her to resume living away from the place in Australia where he or she usually resides when in Australia.
(2)
Treat the 12-month period referred to in subsection
31D(1)
of the
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
as if it were the first 12 months on or after 1 October 2012 that the employee lives away from that place as so required.
Subdiv B formerly read:
Subdivision B
-
Taxable value of living-away-from-home allowance fringe benefits
SECTION 31 TAXABLE VALUE OF LIVING-AWAY-FROM-HOME ALLOWANCE FRINGE BENEFITS
31
Subject to this Part, the taxable value of a living-away-from-home allowance fringe benefit in relation to a year of tax is:
(a)
if the fringe benefit is covered by subsection
30(1)
-
the amount of the recipients allowance reduced by:
(i)
any exempt accommodation component; and
(ii)
any exempt food component; or
(b)
if the fringe benefit is covered by subsection
30(2)
-
the amount of the recipients allowance.
History
S 31 amended by No 216 of 1991 and No 139 of 1987.
SECTION 31
TAXABLE VALUE
-
EMPLOYEE MAINTAINS A HOME IN AUSTRALIA
31(1)
This section applies to a living-away-from-home allowance fringe benefit covered by subsection
30(1)
in relation to a year of tax to the extent that the employee satisfies all of the following for the fringe benefit and the period to which it relates:
(a)
section
31C
(about maintaining an Australian home);
(b)
section
31D
(about the first 12 months);
(c)
section
31F
(about declarations).
31(2)
Subject to this Part, the taxable value of the fringe benefit in relation to the year of tax is the amount of the fringe benefit reduced by:
(a)
any exempt accommodation component; and
(b)
any exempt food component.
[
CCH Note: Modification Declaration FRLI No F2021L00261
(
Bankruptcy Regulations 2021
: FRLI No F2021L00261, registered on 19 March 2021 and effective from 1 April 2021.)
Subsection 31(2) of the Act is modified by inserting the subsection:
31(2)
For the purposes of this section,
"
deducted home consumption expenditure
"
referred to in the definition of
exempt food component
in section
136
is to be taken to be:
(a)
in relation to a person of the age of 12 years or over
-
$42; and
(b)
in relation to a person under the age of 12 years
-
$21.
Example:
Calculation of the value of a living-away-from-home allowance.
Assume that a bankrupt living away from their family is given a living-away-from-home allowance of $220 a week. Of this amount, $100 represents reasonable compensation for the costs of accommodation (i.e. the
"
exempt accommodation component
"
is $100), and $80 represents reasonable compensation for the cost of food.
The remaining $40 is compensation for the disadvantage of living away from home in a town where facilities that would be available at home are not available.
Under subsection
31(2)
, the exempt food component is $80 minus $42 (i.e. the compensation for increased food cost less the deducted home consumption expenditure). The value of the benefit is:
$200
−
$100
−
($80
−
$42) = $62
]
31(3)
Paragraph
(2)(b)
does not apply to the extent that the fringe benefit relates to a period during which the employee resumes living at his or her normal residence.
31(4)
Neither paragraph
(2)(a)
nor
(b)
applies to the extent that the period to which the fringe benefit relates happens while the 12-month period referred to in subsection
31D(1)
is paused.
Note:
The employer may pause that 12-month period (see paragraph
31D(2)(a)
).
History
S 31 substituted by No 142 of 2012, s 3 and Sch 1 item 1, applicable in relation to an employee who, on or after 1 October 2012, lives away from his or her normal residence (whether a benefit provided for living away from that residence on or after that day was paid before, on or after that day). For former wording and transitional provisions see note under Subdiv
B
heading.
Former s 31 amended by No 216 of 1991 and No 139 of 1987.
View history note
Hide history note