What Expenses can I claim with my Novated Lease?

A great part of novated leasing is the potential to increase your disposable income. This is because part of your payments are made with pre-tax dollars.

While fringe benefits tax might apply, salary packaging a car could lower your taxable income and reduce the cost of getting into and running your next car. You don't have to be a big earner or drive lots of kilometres to benefit. You should seek independent financial and taxation advice to see if a novated lease could benefit you as it will depend on your circumstances.

Novated leasing also allows you to bundle not only your lease payments, but your car’s eligible running costs – including petrol, insurance, rego and servicing – into one convenient regular payment.

Each pay your budgeted contribution amount is added to your Maxxia novated lease account. Maxxia makes your regular lease payments from this account, reimbursing you from this account when you claim and paying those annual expenses — like registration — from here when needed.

What you can claim - petrol vehicles

You can use some of your pre-tax dollars to claim the following expenses:

• Registration
• Servicing
• Maintenance
• Insurance
• Fuel
• Tyres
• Car washes

Claiming for electric cars

EVs utilising the Government EV Discount can claim running costs using 100% before-tax dollars. All expenses from the list above can be paid before tax.

In addition, EV drivers can claim electricity costs associated with charging their vehicle. You can claim charging costs in two ways:  the EV home charging rate when charging at home, or the actual cost incurred at a public station or at home. But it’s important to remember, you can only claim one or the other within any Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) year.

Budgeting for bills made easy with novated leasing

Putting your money aside each pay is not only about the potential tax benefits, it's also about having a healthy balance for when you need to pay for stuff - no more surprise bills!

You can use your novated lease balance to pay for eligible expenses in two ways, reimbursement or direct payments.

Reimbursement Payment

If you like, you can pay for your car expenses yourself first and then claim the pre-tax amount from Maxxia. This is called a ‘reimbursement’ payment. As you’ve already paid for the item, the reimbursed funds you then receive from us are yours to use as normal.

Direct Payment

A popular claiming option is ‘direct’ payments via your My Maxxia account, either online or via the app.

This allows you to upload your unpaid invoices and bills, so we can pay these items on your behalf directly from your novated lease account. It’s that easy!

Handy hints about claiming

• You must always provide the bill before we can pay it – at least three business days before the due to date to allow us to process the payment. This is especially important with expenses such as registration – the earlier we receive your claim, the better!
• Don’t forget, regular servicing and maintenance is already budgeted for! If you're dropping your car off for any maintenance work, simply let the service provider know the vehicle is Maxxia-managed and to contact our Maintenance Centre on 1300 123 123 before they commence any work. You can take your car to any workshop, provided they are happy to deal with Maxxia.
• Not sure if you have enough balance for that claim? You can check your novated lease account balance via your My Maxxia account to ensure you have sufficient funds.
• Make sure your bank details are up to date so we can reimburse your funds to the right spot. You can add or update your bank details via My Maxxia.
• Remember the two types of claim payments, ‘reimbursement’ means pay me, and ‘direct payment’ means pay them.

Claiming is easy with the Maxxia app and Maxxia Online

Claiming your eligible running costs is easy with your My Maxxia account. You can submit claims, track their status, adjust your budget and so much more.

So, whether it’s for registration, insurance, charging, maintenance, or helpful items like tyres, car washes or a battery, use My Maxxia to submit your claims in seconds.

Simply download My Maxxia via the Apple App Store or Google Play today. Or visit maxxia.com.au/get-onboard to learn more.

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