We track decisions and ATO guidance as they land, and record what each one actually alters in a return. Reviewed at each update; last reviewed 10 September 2026.
Commissioner of Taxation v Toowoomba Regional Council [2026] FCAFC 50. The Full Court unanimously allowed the Commissioner’s appeal, holding that the Grand Central Shopping Centre car park was a commercial parking station. “Commercial” means engaged in, or in the nature of, commerce — it does not require an intention to make, or be aimed at making, a profit. Logan J’s contrary finding at first instance was overturned.
What it changes: arguments that a council-run, hospital or shopping centre facility sits outside the definition because it is not operated for profit no longer hold. If you took a position on the 2025 first-instance decision — or advised a client to — it needs revisiting before your next lodgement. A facility that charges the public for parking in the ordinary course of its business is in scope.
Toowoomba Regional Council v Commissioner of Taxation [2025] FCA 161. Logan J found for the taxpayer, holding the shopping centre facility was not a commercial parking station because it was not operated commercially for profit. The decision prompted a wave of amended positions during 2025.
Status: reversed on appeal in April 2026. Retained here because positions taken between February 2025 and April 2026 may have relied on it.
The car parking threshold for the FBT year ended 31 March 2026 is $11.03, up from $10.77 for the 2025 year. It indexes annually and is set by the Commissioner.
What it changes: the gate moves every year. A site that was outside the regime last year because the cheapest nearby station charged $10.90 may still be outside it — or may not, if that station has also raised its price. The test has to be re-run each year; it does not carry forward.
The ATO rewrote its view of what a commercial parking station is, following the Qantas and Virgin Blue line of authority. Office, shopping centre and hospital car parks came into scope even where all-day parking is not the facility’s main purpose, and the “penalty rate” carve-out that many employers had relied on disappeared.
What it changes: a great many suburban and regional employers who had never paid car parking FBT came into the regime from 1 April 2022. If your position predates this ruling, it is almost certainly wrong.
A fresh survey each year is not an upsell. It is the only way the conclusion stays defensible.
Give us the car park address and the dates a benefit was provided. We survey the rest and come back by close of business the next business day.
