Car Fringe Benefits Tax Calculator
This car fringe benefits tax calculator works out the taxable value of a car you provide to an employee, the FBT at 47% for the year to 31 March 2027, and the reportable amount on the employee's income statement. It runs the ATO statutory formula or the operating cost method, and handles the electric car exemption. Employees can use it to check the figure their employer reported.
| Statutory formula | Amount |
|---|---|
| Base value | $45,000 |
| x 20% | $9,000 |
| x 365 days / 365 | $9,000 |
| Less employee contributions | $0 |
| Taxable value | $9,000 |
Taxable value over $2,000, so $16,981 is reported for the income year ending 30 June 2027. Income for HELP, Medicare levy surcharge and Division 293 tests becomes $106,981.
FBT is paid by the employer. The employee pays no income tax on the reportable amount. See the reportable fringe benefits glossary entry.
How the statutory formula works
Taxable value = (A x B x C / D) - E. A is the car's base value, B the statutory percentage of 20%, C the days in the FBT year the car was used or available for private use, D the days in the FBT year (365 for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027), and E the employee contributions.
A $45,000 car available all year has a taxable value of $9,000. With GST credits claimed, FBT is $9,000 x 2.0802 = $18,722, x 47% = $8,799.34. The ATO's own example in chapter 7.8 of its FBT guide uses a $60,000 car available for 182 days, with $1,000 of fuel paid by the employee:
| ATO Example 28 | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1: base value | Cost price including GST | $60,000 |
| Step 2: x 20% | $60,000 x 0.2 | $12,000 |
| Step 3: x days available | $12,000 x 182 | 2,184,000 |
| Step 4: / days in the year | 2,184,000 / 365 | $5,983 |
| Step 5: less contributions | $5,983 - $1,000 | $4,983 |
The ATO rounds Step 4 down to the whole dollar in this example, and the calculator does the same. If a car was committed to before 7.30 pm AEST on 10 May 2011 and that commitment has not changed, the old sliding scale of statutory percentages applies instead.
What goes into the base value
For a car you own, the base value is the cost price you paid, including GST and luxury car tax:
- add dealer delivery and any non-business accessories, such as tinting, alloy wheels or paint protection;
- take off trade-ins and cash deposits, and fleet discounts or rebates where they apply;
- leave out registration, stamp duty, insurance and extended warranties;
- do not reduce it by employee contributions, and ignore the income tax car depreciation limit.
For a leased car it is the lessor's cost price if the lessor bought it around the time the lease began, otherwise the market value when you first leased it. A novated lease follows the same rules.
The one-third reduction after 4 years
From the 1 April after you have held the car for 4 years, the base value drops by one third. It applies once, and not to non-business accessories added after purchase. A $45,000 car falls to $30,000, so its full-year taxable value goes from $9,000 to $6,000. In the ATO's Example 26, a $31,000 car that included a $1,000 DVD player is reduced by $10,000 to $21,000.
Counting the days available for private use
Count every day the car was used privately or was available for it. A car garaged at or near the employee's home is available, and so is a car not parked at your premises where the employee is entitled to use it privately or holds the keys. Home to work travel is private use.
The ATO's example: a car taken home on Friday after work and returned on Monday, with no other private use in the year, counts as 4 days. A $45,000 car available for 200 days has a taxable value of $4,931, against $9,000 for the whole year.
Employee contributions cut the taxable value
An employee contribution, which the law calls a recipient's payment, comes off the taxable value dollar for dollar. It is either an after-tax payment to you for the car, or a car expense such as fuel, rego or servicing the employee paid and you did not reimburse. Fuel and oil need an employee declaration or receipts; anything else needs documentary evidence, by the day your FBT return is due (or 21 May if you do not lodge).
This is why novated lease quotes for petrol cars include an after-tax amount: on the $45,000 car, $9,000 of contributions takes the taxable value and the FBT to nil. A payment made to you is assessable income and, if you are registered for GST, carries GST. In the ATO's Example 27, Naomi pays her employer $1,100 and spends $700 on fuel: the $5,500 taxable value falls to $3,700 and the employer remits $100 of GST.
The operating cost method
Taxable value = the car's operating costs for the year x the private use percentage - employee contributions. Operating costs are fuel, repairs, servicing, insurance and rego, plus lease charges for a leased car or, for a car you own, deemed depreciation at 25% and deemed interest at the statutory rate of 8.27% for 2026-27, both on the depreciated value at 1 April. Tolls, parking, fines and the purchase costs are left out.
The private use percentage comes from a logbook kept for 12 continuous weeks plus odometer records. Without them, business use is nil. In the ATO's Example 29, Lia drove 6,000 business kilometres out of 19,000: business use of 31.58%. You make a written election for each FBT year, and if the statutory formula gives a lower value, it applies instead.
| ATO Example 31 (statutory interest 5.20%) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Fuel, repairs, service, insurance and rego | $7,500 |
| Deemed depreciation: 25% x $40,000 | $10,000 |
| Deemed interest: 5.20% x $40,000 | $2,080 |
| Total operating costs | $19,580 |
| x 25% private use | $4,895 |
| Less $2,000 of fuel paid by the employee | $2,895 |
Example 31 is set in the FBT year to 31 March 2021, when the statutory interest rate was 5.20%. Use 8.27% for 2026-27.
From taxable value to FBT payable: type 1 or type 2
Gross up the taxable value, then apply the FBT rate of 47%. Use the type 1 rate of 2.0802 where you can claim a GST credit for the benefit, which is the usual case for a car bought or leased by a GST-registered business. Use the type 2 rate of 1.8868 where you cannot. The ATO rounds the grossed-up amount to the nearest dollar.
| $45,000 car, full year, 2026-27 | Type 1 | Type 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable value | $9,000 | $9,000 |
| Grossed-up value | $18,722 | $16,981 |
| FBT at 47% | $8,799.34 | $7,981.07 |
The ATO's MantCo example adds two cars and some meals with GST, $16,500 grossed up to $34,323, to $6,000 of GST-free school fees grossed up to $11,321. FBT on the total is $21,452.68. FBT is due with your return, generally by 21 May, and if last year's liability was $3,000 or more you pay quarterly instalments.
Electric cars and plug-in hybrids
Private use of an electric car is exempt from FBT when all four conditions hold:
- it is a zero or low emissions vehicle: battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell, and a car (under one tonne, fewer than 9 passengers);
- it was first both held and used on or after 1 July 2022;
- it is used by a current employee or their associates;
- luxury car tax has never been payable on its import or sale, which means a value under the fuel-efficient threshold when first sold and at every later sale.
Registration, insurance, repairs and fuel, including electricity, for an exempt car are exempt too. A home charger is not a car expense; it may be a property or expense payment benefit. Where the electricity cost still matters, the ATO's home charging rate for 2026-27 is 5.47 cents per km: its Bill example, 75% of 10,000 km charged at home, comes to $410.25.
Plug-in hybrids stopped being zero or low emissions vehicles on 1 April 2025. A PHEV stays exempt only if it was used or available, exempt, before that date under a financially binding commitment that has not changed since. An optional lease extension, a break in the novation, a change to lease payments or residual, or a new employer ends it. The novated lease tax calculator covers how an exempt EV changes a salary packaging quote.
| Financial year of sale | LCT threshold, fuel-efficient vehicles |
|---|---|
| 2026-27 | $91,661 |
| 2025-26 | $91,387 |
| 2024-25 | $91,387 |
| 2023-24 | $89,332 |
| 2022-23 | $84,916 |
From the ATO luxury car tax rates and thresholds page (QC38161). The government will review the electric car exemption by mid-2027.
The reportable amount on the employee's income statement
If the taxable value of an employee's reportable benefits passes $2,000 in the FBT year, you report it grossed up at the type 2 rate of 1.8868, whichever rate you used for FBT. The smallest amount that can appear is $3,773. The ATO's Derek example: a $3,500 car benefit is reported as $6,603. Benefits for the FBT year to 31 March 2027 go on the income statement for the year ending 30 June 2027.
An exempt electric car is still reportable, on its notional taxable value. A $60,000 EV available all year has a notional taxable value of $12,000 and a reportable fringe benefits amount of $22,641, with no FBT at all.
What it changes for the employee
No income tax is charged on the amount, but it is added to taxable income for a list of income tests. For an employee on $90,000 with that EV, income for these tests becomes $112,641:
- HELP: the compulsory repayment for 2026-27 rises from $3,071 to $6,467, up $3,396. Check yours with the HECS repayment calculator.
- Medicare levy surcharge: $112,641 is over the $105,000 single threshold for 2026-27, so without private hospital cover the surcharge applies. Run the Medicare levy surcharge calculator.
- Division 293: the amount counts towards the high income test on super contributions. See the Division 293 calculator.
The take-home pay side of a salary packaged car runs through the PAYG calculator.
FBT rates for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 FBT years
| FBT year | FBT rate | Type 1 | Type 2 | Statutory interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 | 47% | 2.0802 | 1.8868 | 8.27% |
| 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 | 47% | 2.0802 | 1.8868 | 8.62% |
From the ATO fringe benefits tax rates and thresholds page (QC18846, last updated 20 May 2026). The statutory percentage is 20% and deemed depreciation 25% in both years.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate FBT on a car?
What is the FBT rate for 2026-27?
Are electric cars exempt from FBT?
Do plug-in hybrids still get the FBT exemption?
How do employee contributions reduce car FBT?
When does the base value drop by one third?
Does car FBT show on my income statement?
Which method gives the lower car FBT?
Sources
Each source below was retrieved on 15 October 2026 and returned a live page.
- ATO: Fringe benefits tax: a guide for employers, chapter 7 Car fringe benefits. The statutory formula (7.8), base value and the one-third reduction, days available, recipient's payments, the operating cost method (7.9), and Examples 23, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 31.
- ATO: Fringe benefits tax: rates and thresholds (QC18846, last updated 20 May 2026). FBT rate, gross-up rates, reporting threshold, statutory interest rate, deemed depreciation and the EV home charging rate.
- ATO: Calculating your FBT (QC71172). Type 1 and type 2 gross-up, rounding, and the MantCo example.
- ATO: Reportable fringe benefits (QC71180) and Consequences of having a reportable fringe benefits amount (QC58436, last updated 5 June 2026). The type 2 gross-up, the Derek example and the income tests.
- ATO: Electric cars exemption (QC71132, last updated 1 April 2026) and FBT on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (QC103132).
- ATO: Luxury car tax rate and thresholds (QC38161, last updated 1 June 2026). Fuel-efficient vehicle thresholds, $91,661 for 2026-27.
- ATO: Taxable value of a car fringe benefit (QC71129). The A x B x C / D - E formula and choosing a method.