Fringe benefit tax on a vehicle, a low-interest loan or another benefit
Quarterly FBT on one benefit, with the working shown.
The rate is the easy part. What goes wrong is the taxable value, because FBT is charged on a value derived from the asset rather than on what the benefit cost the employer.
For a vehicle the two methods give very different answers on the same car: cost price is 5% a quarter of the GST-inclusive price the employer paid and never falls, while tax book value is 9% a quarter of the written-down value with a floor of $8,333. An old vehicle is usually cheaper on tax book value; a cheap one can be dearer, because of the floor.
The days-available divisor is ALWAYS 90 under s RD 29(5)(a) of the Income Tax Act 2007, never the actual number of days in the quarter. Do not "correct" it to 91 or 92.
A low-interest loan is taxed on the gap between the prescribed rate and the rate charged, so a loan at or above the prescribed rate creates no benefit and no FBT.
On the rate: 63.93% applies to everyone and needs no wash-up. 49.25% is lower but available in quarters one to three only, and using it obliges a quarter four wash-up that can claw the saving back. Never present the alternate rate as simply cheaper; quarter_four_washup_required says so for you.
annual_fbt is the quarter times four, which only holds if the benefit is unchanged all year.
Request
- Base URL: https://api.calculate.co.nz
- URL: https://api.calculate.co.nz/v1/fbt
- Auth: API key in header X-API-Key
Request body
Example request
{
"actual_rate_pct": 0,
"benefit_type": "vehicle",
"days_available": 90,
"employee_contribution": 0,
"loan_balance": 0,
"other_quarterly_value": 0,
"prescribed_rate_pct": 0,
"rate_method": "single",
"value_method": "cost_price",
"vehicle_value": 45000
}Response
Quarterly taxable value, the rate applied, and the FBT payable.
Example response
{
"disclaimer": "Indicative FBT for one benefit for one employee, on current IRD rates. It does not pool or attribute benefits, and does not run the quarter four wash-up. Confirm your liability with a tax adviser before filing.",
"result": {
"annual_fbt": 5753.7,
"benefit_type": "vehicle",
"excludes": [
"Pooling and attribution across multiple employees",
"The quarter four wash-up, in any of its three forms",
"Separate treatment of major shareholder-employees",
"GST on the fringe benefit, which is a separate adjustment"
],
"fbt_rate_pct": 63.93,
"notes": [
"Cost price is the GST-inclusive price the employer paid, and it does not fall as the vehicle ages.",
"The single rate applies to every employee regardless of income and needs no wash-up, which is why most small employers use it.",
"annual_fbt assumes the benefit is unchanged for four quarters. A vehicle bought or sold mid-year, or a loan being repaid, will not be."
],
"quarter_four_washup_required": false,
"quarterly_fbt": 1438.43,
"quarterly_taxable_value": 2250,
"rate_method": "single",
"working": "$45,000 x 5% x (90/90 days) = $2,250.00 quarterly taxable value."
}
}Changes
No recorded changes to this operation across all 1 revision of this API.