What is Salary Packaging?
Salary Packaging is also known as Remuneration Packaging and it allows employees to use combinations of benefits to increase their disposable income at no extra cost to the employer.
How does Salary Packaging work?
Your employer agrees to pay a combination of expenses, benefits and pay so that your total cost of employment is not increased to them, but your effective net take home pay is increased.
What are the benefits of Salary Packaging?
It allows you to utilize the maximum benefits available to you under the tax act and awards so as to maximize the money you get to keep or make use of from your gross salary.
What can I include in my package?
Motor Vehicles & Running Costs
- Airport Lounge Memberships
- General Insurances
- Health, Life & Disability insurance
- Home Office
- Mobile Phones
- Negative Gearing Investments
- Notebook Computers
- Professional Development Expenses
- Rental Payments
- School Fees
- Superannuation
- Utility Expenses (e.g., Gas, Electricity, etc.)
- Work Related Expenses
- Plus a lot More!
What type of Motor Vehicles can I include in my package?
Existing, Used and New.
If the ABN entity is a individual can the individual be salary packaged?
No. An individual cannot employ themselves and hence they cannot be paid a salary or a salary package. To do that the entity would have to be say a company. Then they could employ the individual.
What is the difference between Salary Packaging and Remuneration Packaging?
Where the ABN entity is other than a individual say a Company, then the contractor is the employee of the ABN Company. The employee can then receive a salary package, which people sometimes also use the general term Remuneration Package. Where the ABN entity is an individual then they cannot receive a salary, but may receive a Remuneration Package.
Am I subject to Payroll Tax?
You do not have to pay it assuming you are below the threshold for the state you are in. However where it is a labour hire contract as opposed to a results based contract the client has to add labour hire contracts into their standard taxable wages.
Whose name are the insurance policies in?
They are in the name of the ABN contractor.
Employers
Can I enter into a salary packaging agreement at any time?
Yes, however you can only salary package future entitlements to salary or wages before you become entitled to them.
Can I benefit at all salary levels?
Yes, many items are exempt from Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) and can be paid for entirely with pre-tax dollars.
What benefits am I entitled to if I’m required to be away from home for a period of time?
Depending on your circumstances you may be entitled to a tax free Living Away From Home Allowance, Travel Allowance, Zone Allowance and many more options. Contact us and we’ll determine a package that’s right for you.
I am a senior foreign executive and I am not sure I am receiving all my Benefit entitlements?
Our salary packaging service provides tailored advice for temporary residents and Australians to ensure you receive all the benefit entitlements including tax free amounts. Please contact us for a no obligation chat.
Is there any limit on the amount I can salary package?
No, there is no limit on the amount you can salary package. However, you will need to keep enough cash to meet your living requirements.
How do I treat salary packaging in the account?
A paper on the accounting entries is available on your client portal via the link at the bottom of our website.
How do we know how much and what to pay each pay period?
We send you a disbursement advice together with a Payroll Report and invoice that sets out for each employee their net pay, PAYG withholding, superannuation and the benefits to be forwarded for distribution on the employee’s behalf. This occurs the business day before the payment is due.
What documentation should we have with our employee?
You should have a salary package election signed by the employee where they request that you salary sacrifice a portion of their salary (it may be 100%) into benefits together with the remuneration packaging terms and conditions under which they do so. Additionally you should have various statutory declarations in place depending on the benefits. These documents are available on your 1300bpo Contractor portal.
