Employers are being encouraged to help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
If they supply bicycles, scooters, electric scooters or other low powered vehicles that Waka Kotahi declares are mobility devices or not motor vehicles, the cost will be exempt from Fringe Benefit Tax.
The exemption also applies if the employer helps to pay for certain vehicle share services for any of these modes of transport, like motor scooter hire.
The exemption applies only to transport mainly used for the purpose of the employee travelling between work and home, so there can be some private enjoyment of the vehicle.
Problem: how do employers know whether the vehicles are being used primarily for travelling to and from work or for private purposes?
This information would be needed by the employer to know whether the FBT exemption applies.
There is a provision for a maximum cost of the vehicle to be set, but this appears not to have occurred yet.
These new rules became effective from 1st April 2023.