Do you catch the bus to work? Are you caught up on the new tax rules?
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has released a ruling that would allow employees to salary package the cost of getting to and from work later this year (this only applies to bus travel so no train or city cat on the cards as yet!).
This will be available via employers or certain salary packaging providers like RemServ who have obtained a private ruling from the ATO. This benefit will be available on the TransLink network within South East Queensland (from Gympie down to Coolangatta and west to Helidon).
This will allow eligible employees to pay for their bus travel with pre-tax dollars, reducing their taxable income resulting in less tax to pay. The new TransLink smart card will be topped up with pre-tax dollars when the balance falls below $5 and can be used just like a regular go card.
RemServ has estimated that those who earn $70,000 per year and take 10 trips a week across four zones could save just under $1,500 a year under the plan – that’s a latte every day!
If you would like to know more about this scheme, please contact our office.