The motor vehicle is then provided to the employee on a fully maintained basis. Once the lease is in place, the motor vehicle is recognised as an Employer provided motor vehicle for both the purposes of the Income Tax Assessment Act and the Fringe Benefits Assessment Act.
The Associate leases arrangement provides two key benefits:
An associate lease is thus a salary sacrifice arrangement that is very similar to a novated lease agreement. However, in an associate lease, the employee’s associate is the owner and thus the lessor of the vehicle provided by the employer to the employee whereas, in a novated lease, a finance company is the lessor.
However convoluted it may seem on the surface, an associate lease is simply an arrangement in which the employee through his associate leases the employer his or her existing car so that the employer can provide him or her with car fringe benefits, which he or she pays for by sacrificing part of his or her future salary.
Under an Associate Lease Agreement, the associate is liable to pay taxes on the lease payments received. However, if the associate in the agreement happens to be someone who has no or quite low income (e.g. adult child attending university), then income tax savings can still be considerable. After all, the marginal tax rate would still be lower than the rate that the employee would have to pay had the amount been on his or her assessable income. The depreciation allowance for the first year also leads to further reduction in the associate’s assessable income.
More information and how to download an Associate Lease Agreement Template