Government CarPlan (GCP) Scheme
Vehicle Salary Packaging for the Senior Management Group
Current Leases
As at 1st April 2014 arrangements for the calculation of FBT using the Statutory Formula will no longer be four different rates. All leased vehicles will use a flat 20% FBT rate. This will be the case regardless of the amount of kilometres travelled within the FBT year (1 April to 31 March).
As at 7.30pm 10th May 2011 all new contracts will be subject to transitional arrangements please refer to FBT in the New Lease section.
All contracts prior to 7.30pm 10th May 2011 will continue to use the arrangements that were agreed to at the time the contract.
For those employees who need to monitor their odometer readings, vehicle odometer reading information is contained in your LeasePlan Monthly Vehicle Report to assist with monitoring your vehicle lease. Each monthly report shows the remaining average monthly kilometres required to be travelled to reach your target set for the FBT year (1 April to 31 March). It is important that you provide accurate odometer readings at each fuel fill in order for the monthly vehicle report to be accurate. Further information is available on FBT in the New Lease section.
Remember that you are responsible for managing your FBT liability. If you have elected to use the Employee Contribution Method (ECM) this does not necessarily mean that you can ignore your FBT liability as ECM will only eliminate the theoretical FBT payable. If you do not meet your kilometres for FBT purposes you may incur an additional FBT cost.
Further information is available from the Government CarPlan User Guide which is available within the Lease Information Kit (GCP).
LeasePlan will provide a monthly report detailing your actual expenses against your budgeted expenses. As far as the lease costs section is concerned there are two components:
- This period - which will report the monthly budgeted costs and what was actually incurred. This section can be affected by non-regular payments eg:having a vehicle serviced or paying a yearly cost such as insurance.
- Cumulative - which will report monthly budgeted costs to date and what has actually been incurred against these budgets. This is the most important section to monitor, especially how you are going as far as the vehicle running costs are concerned.
The vehicle running costs act like 'bank accounts' and you will be charged for what you incur so it is in your best interest to monitor your leasing balance.
If you have any queries with your monthly reports please contact Leaseplan:
Tel: 1300 668 572
Fax: 1800 331 041
Email: cservice@leaseplan.com.au
In the event your circumstances / travelling habits change (eg: travelling more kilometres than you had expected) it is advisable that you contract LeasePlan to discuss the possible need to re-calculate
your package to reflect the changes. In some circumstances LeasePlan may even contact you to discuss the need for a re-calulation or may produce a re-calulation during periods of high costs (especially if fuel costs rise significantly).
Example if your lease was set at 14,000km per year and based on your travel patterns you now expect that you will be travelling 17,000km per year you should discuss with LeasePlan the need to have your lease re-calculated.
Some items to consider are (these comments are general and you will need to consider whether any of these items are relevant to your situation):
- Running costs - as running costs are charged on what you incur, having your package set at a lower level and travelling a higher level could lead to having to pay a lump sum bill at the end of the lease (monitoring your monthly statements will show if this is a likely issue).
If it looks like there will be an issue, it is better to have the lease re-calulated and pay for an extra amount each month.
- Fringe Benefits Tax - an additional consequence of travelling more or less kilometres is that you could move from one FBT bracket to the next.
- If you have not elected to do the ECM approach:
- Your packaged kilometres are in the next FBT bracket down from what you are actually travelling - Your FBT contributions will be greater than your FBT liability. Any excess FBT contributions will be returned via payroll.
- Your packaged kilometres are in the next FBT bracket up from what you are actually travelling - You will have an additional amount of FBT payable at the end of the FBT year.
- If you have elected to do the ECM approach:
- Your packaged kilometres are in the next FBT bracket down from what you are actually travelling - You are contributing too much after-tax compared to pre-tax and are not maximising your position. These over contributions are lost and are not recoverable.
- Your packaged kilometres are in the next FBT bracket up from what you are actually travelling - Your after-tax contributions will not be sufficient to cover your FBT liability and you will have an additional amount of FBT to pay.
It is a requirement of the leasing arrangement that all maintenance related to your LeasePlan vehicle be pre-approved by LeasePlan.
When booking your vehicle in for service, new tyres etc. make sure the service provider is aware it is a LeasePlan vehicle and approval from LeasePlan should be obtained
before the service / products are provided. This will prevent over servicing and any confusion with regard to the billing address for the services provided. If you require details on servicing/maintenance please request a copy of the invoice from the provider.
Further information is available from the Government CarPlan User Guide which is available within the Lease Information Kit (GCP).
Cash Claim forms may only be used to claim reimbursement of costs incurred in emergency situations, for instance, where the allocated fuel cards could not be used, or for minor
mechanical repairs of an urgent nature only (not for normal schedule servicing). Cash claim forms are available from LeasePlan www.leaseplan.com.au
Further information is available from the Government CarPlan User Guide which is available within the Lease Information Kit (GCP).
If your employment is terminated (or you resign, retire, are dismissed,retrenched, on maternity / paternity leave or extended leave without pay) the Government CarPlan allows you the option to terminate your lease. You can then choose one of the 3 options below.
Please note under Option 2 & 3 no operating cost reconciliation is undertaken (any credit balances are lost). Under Option 3 conditions include charges for unfair wear & tear, excess kilometres and the balance of the
Other Provisions. Employees should discuss their options with LeasePlan and fully understand the option before committing themselves to the outcome.
- Option 1 - Terminate
the lease early by paying out the lease on the day of departure.
- Option 2 - The vehicle may be assigned to another employee subject to agreement between new employee and your employer.
- Option 3 - Return
the vehicle to LeasePlan. Note: If there is damage to the
vehicle, excess kilometres or a deficit
balance in other provisions’ expenses, these amounts will have to
be settled by you upon the return of the vehicle.
Further information is available from the Government CarPlan User Guide which is available within the Lease Information Kit (GCP) and from LeasePlan’s customer service team.
The University will continue to process vehicle salary packaging payments while the employee is being paid. Where the employee goes on to unpaid leave (eg: Leave Without Pay or Maternity Leave Without Pay) it is the reponsibility of the employee to make any leasing payments directly to the University.
When paying the leasing payments to the University the leasing payments will need to be increased to include the Goods and Services Tax.
If you have a motor vehicle lease and you intend to take a period of unpaid leave then please contact the Vehicle Packaging Officer to discuss the arrangements prior to commencing leave.
SMG members should consider all business and personal aspects when assessing motor vehicle options. For example, where study leave is planned in future years and a vehicle is not required during this period, the employee may consider fixing the lease term to cease before study leave commences.
SMG members should be aware that the packaging arrangements continue to attract FBT liability during leave periods.
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