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How we apply it

The method behind every determination, and the mistakes we see most often in positions prepared elsewhere. For the underlying legislation, rulings and case law, see the rulings and case law library.

Reference library

Every authority, in one table

The legislation, ATO rulings and determinations, and the case law — each with what it does, its current status, and a link to the source.

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Calculation

Six choices, made in two independent steps

Valuing the benefit and counting the benefit days are separate elections. They are frequently conflated, and the pairing determines what data you must supply. Full walkthrough →

Step one · value the benefit
s 39C / s 39D

Commercial parking station

Lowest all-day fee within 1 km, established for each individual day a benefit arose.

DAILY DATA
s 39DA

Average cost

Mean of the lowest fee on the first and last days a benefit was provided.

WE DO THIS
s 39D

Market value

An arm’s-length valuation of the spaces, requiring a qualified valuer’s opinion.

VALUER
Step two · count the benefit days
Statutory formula

228 days deemed

Requires nothing from the employer about actual usage.

NO DATA
12-week register

Representative sample

Twelve weeks recorded, then valid for five years. Often the largest single saving available.

CLIENT DATA
Actual

Day-by-day records

Most accurate, most administratively expensive.

CLIENT DATA
Worth knowing

Where we see positions go wrong

  • An averaged rate used under the commercial parking station method. s 39C needs a rate for each specific day. An s 39DA average cannot be substituted into it, and doing so is visible on the face of the workpaper.
  • Straight-line radius instead of a routed measurement. A 1 km circle both captures stations further than 1 km by any practicable route and misses ones that are closer. The direction of error is unpredictable.
  • Weekday counts used as business days under s 39E. Public holidays are state-specific and materially change the divisor.
  • Published tariffs treated as the lowest available rate. Permit and early bird products are frequently cheaper and rarely published.
  • On-street parking used as the comparator. Metered and voucher bays are excluded by statute, whatever they charge.
  • Relying on last year’s conclusion. Stations open and close, the threshold indexes annually, and — as April 2026 demonstrates — the definition itself moves.

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Give us the car park address and the dates a benefit was provided. We survey the rest and come back within 24 hours.

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