Chris Peadon recently acted for the successful appellant in the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) case involving parking provided to Air Crew by Virgin Australia.
The Full Court of the Federal Court accepted the appellant’s argument that the “primary place of employment” of air crew was their “Home Base” airport terminal rather than the aircraft.
The decision is important because it confirms that the inquiry directed by the statute as to the “principal place of employment” is not limited to time spent at a particular place. Rather, it requires that regard be had to the employment relationship as a whole. In this case, that included not only a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the work performed at each place during the day, but also matters such as an employee’s rosters, rest periods, allowances and entitlements, many of which were linked to the employee’s “Home Base” airport.
Here is a link to the decision.
Chris was led by Mr Brendan Sullivan SC, appearing for the Commissioner.
