ATO review of LAFHA arrangements
Posted on: 23/03/2011
The ATO has recently announced that it will commence a review of living away from home allowance (‘LAFHA’) arrangements from April 2011.
The ATO will be writing to selected employers requesting information regarding the provision of LAFHAs to employees. The ATO has indicated that it will be requesting the following information:
- a copy of the employees' living away from home declarations
- the employees' tax file numbers
- the total amount of salary and wages paid to them
- the value of the LAFHA paid to them
- the amount of the allowance that has been treated as tax exempt
- the basis used for ascertaining the exempt accommodation and food amounts.
Given this ATO announcement, it may be an appropriate to review any LAFHA arrangements that you may have in place.
Should you require any assistance or advice in respect to this matter, please don’ t hesitate to contact either Peter Moltoni or Nathan Webb.