Hi.

I am looking for some help and information about LAHFA. I heard about it through friends but I have lived in Melbourne for 4 months already on a 457 visa and it isn't specified in my contract.

I've spoken to my employer and they were completely unaware of the allowance and have found out that the allowance is only payable on amounts over 75k. Is that correct?

Also, is it possible for them to amend my contract going forward so that I can receive this allowance? Are there any tax implications for them or is it the case that they just need to administer it for me?

I would appreciate any sort of clarification on this!

Thanks
Andy

Your employer is incorrect to say that it is only payable on salary's greater than 75k - although there are some strict limitations but these could be got round by claiming less LAFHA.

Sorry but LAFHA should be negotiated before you get here and cannot be added afterwards. FYI there are Fringe Benefit Tax implications for your employer on the food component of LAFHA and it must be administered by your employer and cannot be claimed retrospectively on your tax return.

Hi Colin.

Thanks for the information.

It's a real shame that my employer was completely unaware of this. I was hoping that they could amend my contract as a friend of mine recently had the amount of LAHFA in her contract changed but then she already had it in there.

There's no way of getting round this issue is there?

Thanks
Andrew

You are not the only person to be in this position and I am sure you wont be the last !!

I dont think there is a way around it - sorry !

As you will probably read on other posts on this subject a lot of people (usually people in your position) would not agree with me as there is not much 'official' information available on this subject. However you will find that there is plenty of info from reputable sources which would agree with my comments.

Hi Colin.

I called the tax office and their attitude seemed to be that if the employer was prepared to offer LAFHA that they would not have a problem with it being added into my contract. I'm now currently asking my employer to look into adding an allowance into my contract.

Do you have any links or documents that I could take a look at that say that adding LAFHA into contracts is not possible?

Thanks again for your help and advice.

Andy