Under the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, employers providing fringe benefits must keep fringe benefits tax records for at least 5 years. Clock starts: completion of the transactions.
Records explaining fringe benefits provided and the employer's FBT liability, including statutory evidentiary documents.
5 provisions of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 apply to these records. Each one is set out below.
The terms
s 132(1)Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
5 years
after the completion of the transactions or acts to which they relate
s 132(2)Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
5 years
after the completion of the transactions or acts to which they relate
s 123(1)Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
See the provision
a statutory evidentiary document given to or made by the employer
s 123(3)Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
See the provision
statutory evidentiary documents, being substitute documentary evidence maintained by or on behalf of the employer
s 135FFringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986
5 years
after the end of the current year
Conditions and exceptions Caution
From the provisions:
- Records must be in writing in English or readily accessible and convertible into English, and must enable the employer's liability to be readily ascertained (s 132(3))
- Not required to keep records of information about another person's transactions the record keeper could not reasonably have known (s 132(4))
- Commissioner has notified the person that retention is not required (s 132(5)(a))
- Company that has gone into liquidation and been finally dissolved (s 132(5)(b))
- Record keeping exemption under Part XIA (per note)
- Applies where the associate provides or arranges fringe benefits to employees of the employer or their associates
- Records must be kept in English or readily convertible form (s 132(3))
- S 132(4) reasonable-knowledge exception
- Commissioner has notified that retention is not required (s 132(5)(a))
- Company in liquidation and finally dissolved (s 132(5)(b))
- Subsections (4)-(6) provide relief where original document lost or destroyed but a substitute exists or reasonable precautions were taken
- Only applies if the period under s132(1)(b) is not already that long
The law
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, s 132(1) · Records to be kept and preservedOfficial text ↗
retain those records, and any records given to the employer under paragraph (2)(b), for a period of 5 years after the completion of the transactions or acts to which they relate.
Text as at 1 July 2026
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, s 132(2) · Records to be kept and preservedOfficial text ↗
retain those records for a period of 5 years after the completion of the transactions or acts to which they relate.
Text as at 1 July 2026
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, s 123(1) · Retention of statutory evidentiary documentsOfficial text ↗
where an employer fails to retain, for the retention period, a statutory evidentiary document given to or made by the employer, the statutory evidentiary document shall be deemed never to have been given to or made by the employer
Text as at 1 July 2026
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, s 123(3) · Retention of statutory evidentiary documentsOfficial text ↗
where an employer fails to retain, for the retention period, statutory evidentiary documents, being substitute documentary evidence maintained by or on behalf of the employer, those documents shall be deemed never to have been maintained
Text as at 1 July 2026
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, s 135F · Keeping records for 5 years after they are last relied onOfficial text ↗
The period in paragraph 132(1)(b) for retaining records relating to the employer's liability under this Act in respect of the employer's most recent base year is extended (or further extended) to 5 years after the end of the current year (if the period is not already that long).
Text as at 1 July 2026
Other terms that apply to these records
This page covers fringe benefits tax records on their own. The same file is often caught by other laws as well, with different periods and start dates. See why a legal term is not a schedule.
ScheduleOne
3 records. 3 sets of rules. They don't agree.
One business file can hold all of these at once.
Fringe benefits tax records5yFringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, s 132(1), s 132(2), s 123(1), s 123(3), s 135F · completion of the transactions
Car log books and odometer records5yIncome Tax Assessment Act 1997, s 28-150(1)–(3), s 28-155(2), s 28-155(3), s 28-100(5), s 28-130(4) · due date for the tax return
Business tax records5yIncome Tax Assessment Act 1936, s 262A(1), (4) · later of preparation or the transaction
Now do that for every record your organisation holds, and redo it when the law changes. ScheduleOne has done that work, and keeps it current.
See ScheduleOne →