自澳洲员工福利税（FBT）开启去繁之旅
2014年3月19日
澳大利亚公共会计师协会（IPA AU）认为极有必要彻查澳大利亚员工福利税（FBT）相关政策规定，并表示该工作本应尽早完成。
‘如果政府希望在降低税收监管的复杂性方面有所进展，没有哪个税种会比FBT更合适，’IPA AU高级税务顾问托尼﹒格雷克表示，’在澳洲的所有现行税种中，属FBT的合规成本最高，它为小企业的运营施加了大量合规负担。’
‘含非营利部门在内的所有小企业雇主团体都面临着FBT制度的复杂性。我们正在与许多试图穿越规则泥潭的主体进行探讨，如何进行安全洽谈以符合这些规则的方式。’
‘IPA
AU相信，将FBT从雇主转移至雇员，能够更为公平地解决当前许多问题。基于员工水平对员工福利征税，可能会更为中立的处理现金和非现金收入，同时降低雇主和雇员的合规成本。’
‘《亨利评论》支持这样一个提案，即简化现行规则，提升透明度。’
‘长久以来，FBT条款也具有许多破格现象，需要负责任的政府加以解决。针对外出用餐和私人租用娱乐设施无上限豁免FBT的规定，极具歧视性，出于公平起见需要立即严格控制。’
‘这些不设限优惠政策的使用违背了公平原则，例如，为避税而允许某人从税前收入中支取AU$40 000薪酬举办婚礼，此举很难站住脚。’
‘如果改由雇员支付FBT，便需要考虑一种替代机制以筹集FBT税收优惠资金。由非营利部门税收优惠工作小组提议的机制可提供更为透明的激励，为非营利部门吸引并留住人才。’
IPA
AU已将该建议列入其先期预算提案内容。请登录IPA AU全球官方网站了解详情。
报道原文：
Media Release: Start with FBT if you
want to remove red tape
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
An overhaul of the
fringe benefits tax (FBT) is warranted and overdue, says the Institute of Public
Accountants (IPA).
Look no further
than FBT if the Government wants to make some inroads to its commitment to
reducing regulatory red tape,’ said IPA senior tax advisor, Tony Greco.
‘FBT has the
unenviable title of having the highest compliance cost of any tax. It places a
significant compliance burden on small business operators.
‘The complexity of
the FBT system applies to all small business employer groups, including the
not-for-profit sector. We are talking about a lot of entities trying to
navigate a quagmire of rules to safely negotiate ways to comply with these tax
rules.
‘The IPA believes
that shifting FBT from employers to employees would provide a more equitable
solution to many of the current problems. Taxing fringe benefits at the employee
level has the potential to deliver greater neutrality in the treatment of cash
and non-cash remuneration while reducing the compliance costs for both
employers and employees.
‘The Henry review
supports such a proposal to simplify the current rules and provide for more
transparency.
‘There are also a
number of anomalies in the FBT rules which have been allowed to exist for too
long and should be addressed by any responsible government.
‘The use of uncapped access to FBT exemptions for restaurant meals and the hire
of entertainment facilities for private purposes are highly discriminatory and
need to be immediately reined in on equity grounds’.
‘The exploitation
of these uncapped concessions offends the principle of fairness. For example,
allowing someone to salary sacrifice a $40,000 wedding from pre-tax income to
avoid a significant amount of tax is difficult to justify.
‘If the incidence
of FBT is transferred to employees, then an alternative mechanism for funding
FBT tax concessions will need to be considered. The funding alternatives
proposed by the Not-for-Profit Sector Tax Concession Working Group have merit
as they offer more transparent incentives for attracting and retaining talent
in the not-for-profit sector.
These alternatives
need to be considered in the interests of simplicity, fairness and
transparency,’ said Mr Greco.
The IPA has made
this recommendation as part of its pre-Budget submission. Further details
can be found at the IPA website.
