Category: News

Categories
News

FBT car parking rules have changed: is your business now liable?

Fringe Benefit Tax| Car Parking | DIVVY

The ATO has made changes to fringe benefit tax (FBT) and car parking, and as of 1 April 2022, many more employers will find themselves liable for car parking FBT.

The ATO has widened the scope of FBT car parking benefits

In June 2021, the ATO released Taxation Ruling TR 2021/2, which outlines changes to the Commissioner’s view about when the provision of employee parking is considered a car parking fringe benefit for FBT purposes. These changes have been in the works for several years, but now the final ruling has been issued, they will come into effect on 1 April 2022.

What does it mean for employers?

It means that the ATO is taking a more rigorous approach to FBT interpretation, and many more employers will find themselves subject to FBT on the provision of car parking to their employees.

This is because the ruling tightens up the definition of ‘commercial car parking facilities’. Certain car parks, including some shopping centre, airport, university, hospital, hotel, and long-term car parks that were previously not defined as commercial parking stations under the old ruling, may now be considered commercial car parking facilities.

The new ruling includes almost all car parks that charge a fee for all-day parking above the car parking threshold (which, for the FBT year ending 31 March 2022, is $9.25 per day), even if the car park’s primary purpose is not to provide all-day parking. For example, the main intention of a hospital car park may be to provide hourly parking, and even if its fees are so high as to discourage all-day parking, it could still be included as a commercial car parking facility under the new ruling.

Which employers will be affected?

The new ruling means that many more employers, including those outside CBDs, will now be subject to FBT on car parking, and employers will need to examine the new ruling carefully to work out if it applies to them.

The first step is to establish if you are providing a car parking fringe benefit for your employees. If your employee’s car is parked at one or more work car parks for a combined period of more than four hours between 7am and 7pm at or near their primary place of employment, and there is a commercial car park where the lowest all-day parking fee exceeds the car parking threshold ($9.25 per day in the FBT year ending 31 March) located inside a 1km radius of the work car park, then you are providing your employee with a car parking fringe benefit.

The major change comes with the new FBT definition of ‘commercial parking station’. A commercial car parking facility is now considered one that is permanent (excluding on-street parking) and, in the ordinary course of business, has at least one car space available to the public for paid all-day parking.

The ruling includes a two-stage test to help employers determine whether a car park can reasonably be considered a commercial car parking facility. Step one – if the car park is run by a car parking operator, it is considered a commercial car parking facility. This includes shopping centre or hospital car parks managed by (but not owned or leased by) a car park operator. If the car park is not run by a car park operator, the second stage of the test can be applied. If any two of these three characteristics apply to the car park, it is considered a commercial car parking facility.

  • It has clear signage, visible from the street, advertising that paid parking is available.
  • It has mechanisms, like boom gates, ‘pay and display’ ticket machines, or licence plate recognition functionality, to control who can enter, exit or park at the facility.
  • It charges more than a nominal fee for paid parking. This includes charging a user for parking which is not all-day parking, for example, hourly parking.

It’s easy to see how under these parameters, many more car parks will be included in the commercial car parking facility definition, and thus, many more employers, especially those outside of major city centres, will find themselves liable for car parking FBT from 1 April 2022.

What should affected employers do?

The best thing impacted employers can do is start planning now. If you determine that your business will be affected by these changes, it’s important to get ahead of the game and start assessing and budgeting. This is the perfect time to invest in the kind of smart parking management system that can save you money at tax time.

The amount of FBT payable on a car parking space is based on how much it is used. If you can demonstrate, with accurate, thorough, real-time reporting, that parking utilisation is low, for example, while employees are working from home, you can reduce your FBT car parking burden. But in order to demonstrate this when FBT is due on 31 March 2023, that smart parking management system needs to be installed now so that you have a full year’s data to call upon.

DIVVY’s staff parking management solution features FBT reporting capabilities that have been given the tick of approval from Deloitte Private, who agree that using DIVVY’s reports can, in the relevant circumstances, result in a reduction to the car parking FBT payable. If your business is newly subject to FBT on car parking fringe benefits, we can help you manage the burden.

Get in touch with our sales team to discuss your staff parking reporting needs today.

Categories
News

Meeting driver’s needs in a COVID-normal world

Two years into the COVID pandemic and in many Australian cities, people are returning to their lives while doing their best to avoid contracting the virus. We take a look at how COVID has changed the way in which we get around our cities and how parking operators can meet the needs of drivers in a COVID-normal world.

How has COVID changed our travel habits?

Car travel, and therefore parking, is experiencing a COVID-induced surge in popularity. Data from cities across the world shows that, as COVID restrictions ease, people are opting to travel by car because they are wary about catching the virus on public transport, and that’s what we’re seeing in Australian cities, too.

An online survey conducted by toll road operator Transurban in July last year found that, on average, 22 per cent fewer people in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane intended to use public transport every day after COVID, compared to their pre-pandemic use. And, now that COVID-normal life is well underway in those cities, the numbers show that’s exactly what’s happening.

Mobility data from Apple shows that as soon as COVID restrictions began to lift in Sydney in October 2021, car journeys spiked, while walking and public transport trips remained below the January 2020 baseline figures. By January 2022, public transport usage in Sydney was still almost 64 per cent lower than it was pre-COVID.

In Melbourne, road traffic was at 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by mid-January 2022, in contrast with public transport usage, which was only at 36 per cent of its pre-COVID baseline numbers. Road toll data, meanwhile, shows that car use has risen even in cities that haven’t experienced extended lockdowns, like Brisbane.

This increase in car use has naturally led to a spike in demand for parking. Parking operators were reporting increases in demand of more than 200 per cent in January 2022, while, in a sign of just how highly valued parking has become, a parking space in central Sydney has been listed for sale for more than $500,000.

So, how can parking operators best meet the needs of this surge of COVID-savvy drivers?

Contactless parking payments systems – more relevant now than ever

The reason why people are eschewing public transport in favour of car travel is to minimise their exposure to COVID, so their choice of parking needs to be as COVID-safe as possible too. Research has shown that public health measures, such as social distancing and minimising shared touchpoints, can help reduce the spread of COVID. That’s where contactless parking payments systems come into their own. They eliminate the need for paper pull-tickets, cash payments, the presence of staff in the car park, and in some cases, any friction points at all, making them the most hygienic parking management systems on offer.

DIVVY offers three contactless parking solutions to suit all types of car parks and parking operators. Our public parking management systems, the pre-book system DIVVY Marketplace and the casual parking product Drive Up, are completely cashless.

DIVVY Marketplace collects payment via the DIVVY app, while Drive Up’s payment device technology accepts VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay at the car park entry or exit. Our staff and visitor parking management software, which has paid parking capabilities for those businesses who want to charge their staff for parking, is also cashless and only accepts electronic payments. Cash use, which has been steadily declining here in Australia for some time now, has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic due to hygiene concerns, with the CBA predicting the nation could be completely cashless as soon as 2026.

Not only are our parking systems cashless, doing away with the need for cash payment machines, but none of our smart parking management systems uses paper pull-tickets either, thus further reducing the number of physical touchpoints in the driver’s journey.

Our parking solutions become completely frictionless with the integration of the DIVVY LPR solution, which uses licence plate recognition technology to calculate the duration of stay. The DIVVY LPR solution eliminates every physical touchpoint in the parking journey, making it the most hygienic, COVID-safe way to park.

Whether you’re looking for contactless parking payment systems for your public car park or your staff and visitor parking, we can help. Get in touch with our friendly sales team to discuss your parking needs today.

Categories
News

How to choose the right parking equipment

DIVVY’s parking equipment

If you manage staff parking or operate a car park, you’ll know how important it is to get the most out of your parking assets, and good parking equipment can help you to do just that. But when you’re shopping around for parking equipment, what should you be looking for? Here’s how to choose the best parking equipment. 

What does it actually do?

The first place to start is the product’s features and functionality. What do you need your parking equipment to do?

DIVVY offers three cashless, ticketless and paperless parking products to suit the needs of all car park operators.

  • DIVVY Marketplace – turn your vacant car parks into easy revenue when you list them on DIVVY Marketplace, our public parking platform with 90,000 registered users searching for and booking hourly, daily, and monthly parking.
  • Staff Parking – manage staff parking effortlessly and efficiently (and visitor parking too) with our B2B parking solution’s market-leading features such as Free Up My Space, Book on Behalf, and cost savings reports. It has paid parking capabilities too, for businesses who want to charge their staff for parking. Underutilised staff parking spaces can also be listed on DIVVY Marketplace to generate extra revenue, with options that give car park operators discretion over who can book their spaces.
  • Drive Up – everything drivers and car park operators love about DIVVY – easy contactless parking – is now available in a casual drive-up parking product. Drive Up’s payment device technology accepts VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay at the car park entry or exit.

What will it cost?

Traditional parking equipment, such as paper pull-ticket machines and cash payment machines, is costly.

DIVVY’s parking equipment, on the other hand, comes in at a fraction of the cost of old-fashioned parking equipment. Our innovative parking solutions are light on the hardware. Because they don’t use paper tickets or take cash payments, all they require is a DIVVY access control device at the car park entry and exit, making them considerably less expensive than traditional parking solutions.

The world-first DIVVY IoT I/O Controller makes existing hardware (such as roller doors and boom gates) remotely controllable, saving the cost and waste of replacing such equipment.

Both the software and hardware components of DIVVY’s parking equipment are quick and easy to set up. A speedy and simple installation process means minimal downtime for the car park, ensuring car park operators maximise their revenue.

How do the numbers stack up?

If you’re investing in parking equipment, you want to be sure that your investment will pay off.

Not only is the capital cost of setting up DIVVY parking equipment much lower than that of traditional equipment, but it costs less to operate too.

Because DIVVY parking equipment’s software updates are performed remotely, there’s no need for a technician to attend every time a change or update is required, meaning less spend on repairs and maintenance.

And because our parking equipment takes all payments electronically, there are also no labour or contract costs associated with cash collection and remittance. DIVVY parking products are energy efficient, using less power in their operation than conventional parking pull-ticket and payment machines, making them cheaper to run.

One of the largest overheads associated with public parking products has always been the cost of paper pull-tickets, which need to be continually replenished and are all too often written off in wastage events. DIVVY’s parking equipment completely eliminates this cost from parking management, saving car park operators potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

DIVVY parking equipment allows car park operators to get more out of their parking assets, which ultimately helps to boost their bottom line. Listing underutilised spaces on DIVVY Marketplace generates additional revenue with no extra effort, and managing staff parking with DIVVY parking means existing parking assets work harder.

Some of our Enterprise clients have even been able to reduce the number of parking bays on their lease because the DIVVY system is managing their staff parking so efficiently.

Is it easy to use?

This one is key. Your new parking equipment needs to be user-friendly for both drivers and car park managers.

DIVVY’s parking equipment has been expressly designed to deliver a better user experience for both drivers and car park operators. The DIVVY app, website and access control devices are simple and intuitive for drivers to use, guiding them through the parking process step-by-step.

Drivers are placing increasing value on being able to pre-book hourly, daily or monthly parking and pay without cash via a parking app. The ultimate user-friendly option is the DIVVY LPR solution, which uses licence plate recognition technology to offer a completely frictionless parking experience.

All of DIVVY’s parking products are backed by customer support 24/7, 365 days of the year, via phone, text or email.

Is it smart?

It is now widely acknowledged in the property industry that smart cities technology, or proptech, is the way forward to enhancing the customer experience and extracting more value from real estate, including car parks.

Using smart building technology, DIVVY parking equipment brings parking into the 21st century. The exclusive DIVVY smart technology – the DIVVY app, our access control device, the DIVVY IoT I/O Controller, our payment device technology and our software – delivers an improved, streamlined parking experience with fewer friction points for drivers.

It makes life easier for car park managers too, by delivering real-time, accurate car park usage data to the DIVVY cloud portal where it can be translated into reports and analysis to inform astute business decisions.

Technology is the future, so it makes sense to invest in parking equipment from a parking tech company like DIVVY.

Want more?

We’re always here to help. Our expert sales team can help you find the right parking equipment – get in touch today.

Categories
News

Parking Industry Trends in 2021

cars passing

While we might not be working on aerial car parks for flying cars just yet, the parking industry has come a long way since the parking meter was invented in 1935. We take a look at the industry’s latest trends.

The rise of parking apps

The best technology makes our lives richer and easier, and that’s exactly what a good parking app can do. Sophisticated parking apps like the DIVVY app are designed to deliver a higher level of customer service, enhancing and streamlining the parking experience and generally making life simpler.

The DIVVY app revolutionises parking by taking payments digitally and granting car park access via QR code, eliminating both cash and parking pull tickets to deliver a contactless parking experience.

But it goes even further, enriching the parking experience by providing the driver with details about their closest DIVVY car park, real time occupancy information, and detailed access information specific to each car park. Bookings can be extended via the DIVVY app if drivers need to stay longer.

The days of driving around aimlessly looking for a parking space, scrabbling for coins for a parking meter or even getting a parking fine for overstaying the allocated time are fast becoming a thing of the past.

The death of cash payments

Cash as a method of payment has been on the decline for a while now, and hygiene concerns raised by the COVID pandemic have further hastened its demise. In 2020, only 8.3 per cent of Australian transactions involved cash, and experts predict that by 2024 that figure will be as low as 2 per cent. The parking industry is keeping pace with the cashless trend and a proliferation of e-payment options are now available, with DIVVY’s payment device technology leading the way.

Here at DIVVY, we’re well known for our contactless parking solutions. Both our pre-book public parking solution DIVVY Marketplace and our new casual parking product Drive Up use parking equipment that makes the process completely cashless.

Payment is charged to the customer’s credit card, either via the DIVVY app or the access control device at the car park exit. Not only are all our parking solutions cashless, but with products like the DIVVY LPR solution that uses licence plate recognition technology to calculate the duration of stay, we can offer completely frictionless parking solutions too.

Consumer desire for cashless parking existed before COVID, but now drivers are demanding it. DIVVY makes contactless parking simple for both drivers and car park operators.

A focus on sustainability

In 2021 consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on sustainability. Sustainable parking solutions appeal to car park operators too because they’re often more cost-effective than conventional parking systems.

DIVVY was born of a desire to do better for the environment. Our founding premise was to reduce the up to 30 per cent of traffic in our CBDs comprised of cars driving around looking for a park by making better use of underutilised parking spaces.

Both our B2B parking solution, DIVVY Enterprise, and our consumer parking product, DIVVY Marketplace, make better use of existing parking spaces through more efficient staff parking management and making parking spaces available for pre-booking. This means less traffic, fewer emissions, shorter travel times and less stress. By making existing parking spaces work harder, the need for new parking facilities is reduced, saving money and precious resources.

We’ve been working towards paperless parking since the beginning, and car parks using the DIVVY Enterprise and DIVVY Marketplace systems can be operated and managed entirely without paper. Our QR code-operated access control devices replace old-fashioned paper pull tickets, and with the DIVVY cloud portal housing our real-time data and reporting functions, there are no paper reports.

DIVVY’s Sammy access control device, used in all our parking solutions, uses fewer materials in its manufacture and less power in its operation than conventional parking pull-ticket and payment machines. It is energy efficient and uses no water or other materials in its operation, and both its tech and plastic components are recyclable.

The DIVVY IoT I/O Controller is a simple, cost-effective device that automates and controls parking gates as part of our parking solutions. Developed in-house at DIVVY, it’s the first of its kind in the world, and through its ability to convert a non-internet capable piece of hardware (such as a boom gate) into one that can be controlled remotely, it breathes new life into existing equipment, reducing waste and ensuring the conservation of energy and resources.

Want more?

The DIVVY team is always here to help. For more on the latest in the parking industry, contact Kat Fowler, DIVVY’s Head of Client Services, at kat@divvy.com.au.

Categories
News

DIVVY: a complete intelligent parking management system

Parking Technology or Optimising bookable assets through smarter technology

Calling all parking operators! Whether you need an intelligent parking management system to take care of your staff parking, you want help turning your vacant parking spaces into moneymakers or you’re looking for a casual parking management solution, DIVVY has you covered.

We offer a full suite of parking management software that saves you time and money and makes managing your parking simple. We’re also a parking equipment provider, with a range of access control solutions to meet all your car park management needs.

DIVVY’s Smart Parking Solutions

DIVVY Marketplace

Start generating revenue from your empty car spaces by listing them with DIVVY Marketplace. DIVVY Marketplace parking technology connects your unused parking spaces with more than 90,000 registered DIVVY parking customers searching for pre-booked hourly, daily and monthly parking via our app and our website.

You decide when your parking spaces will be available, whether it’s weekdays only, or weekends, or specific dayparts or for special events. Then sit back and let DIVVY’s Enterprise system handle bookings, payments and access in its seamless inventory management system.

Troubleshooting is handled by DIVVY’s 24/7 customer support, who are on hand 365 days of the year to help both parkers and parking operators. DIVVY Marketplace is simply smart parking.

DIVVY Premium Parking

Not keen on every human and their dog booking your parking spaces? DIVVY’s Premium Parking option gives you the ultimate discretion, allowing you to decide exactly who can book the parking spaces you list on DIVVY Marketplace.

If building access is an issue, you might choose to allow only tenants in your building to book your parking spaces. Or you can select certain groups from within your own business, or perhaps open your spaces up to all staff in your organisation, but no-one from outside the company. With DIVVY Premium Parking, the power is in your hands.

DIVVY Drive Up

Drivers love parking with DIVVY – after all, it couldn’t be simpler. But what about the days they’ve forgotten to pre-book their parking? That’s why we launched Drive Up casual parking. Drive Up brings the simplicity and ease that DIVVY customers love to casual parking. No cash, no tickets, no pre-booking required.

Casual parking operators can choose to install Pay on Entry, where visitors are charged a set all-day rate as they enter the car park, or Pay on Exit which charges drivers a fee based on the duration of their stay at the car park exit. It can also be installed in tandem with DIVVY’s LPR solution to use licence plate recognition technology to allow entry and calculate length of stay.

DIVVY Staff Parking

Throw away the physical access cards and delete the parking spreadsheet. DIVVY offers a complete staff parking management solution that can handle the most complex of staff parking arrangements, including visitor parking and paid parking options, all via our QR code access control devices.

Highlights of the system include Free Up My Space, a market-first feature that allows parkers to free up their parking space for others when they’re not using it. It means your staff parking works harder, and parking won’t be sitting idle when staff are on leave, working from home or away from the office.

Book On Behalf is a superior visitor parking management feature giving selected staff members the ability to book parking on a visitor’s behalf. Book On Behalf gives you complete visibility over all visitor parking, and grants visitors car park access with the same QR code technology. You’ll never have to run down to the car park to let a visitor in again.

The DIVVY reports portal gives you access to real-time, accurate data about your staff car park utilisation, which can be used to claim fringe benefits tax (FBT) deductions (if eligible) and makes informed business decisions about your parking assets.

With the DIVVY staff parking management system, you can even opt to charge staff, or certain groups of staff, for parking.

DIVVY’s Access Control Device

Sammy Hardware

Sammy is the primary DIVVY access control device, and it makes entering and exiting car parks a breeze. It uses QR code technology for entries and exits and is used in both our pre-book and Drive Up parking solutions.

Sammy features a fully integrated VOIP intercom and it accepts payments via its onboard payment terminal. It is built to withstand harsh Australian environmental conditions.

Sammy is a key element in our smart parking control solutions, using the latest in the Internet of Things (IoT) technology to provide a seamless experience for parkers and a live and accurate source of rich data for parking operators.

IoT I/O Controller

The DIVVY IoT Controller solution is a simple, cost-effective device that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) to automate and control parking gates as part of DIVVY’s smart parking control solutions. Developed in-house at DIVVY, it’s the first of its kind in the world.

This all-in-one Controller enables companies to collect data and generate meaningful insights through the cloud, while streamlining parking operations. DIVVY’s IoT Controller offers the utmost in secure services for both car parks and data.

To find out more about our smart parking products or access control devices, contact our friendly sales team today.

Categories
News

The latest from CEO Grant Fowler: March 2021

DIVVY Parking's CEO, Grant Fowler

If 2020 was a bumpy road, 2021 is shaping up to be the highway leading towards better days. Here in Australia, we continue to handle the coronavirus threat remarkably well. Our vaccination campaign is underway, consumer confidence is bouncing back and economic predictions are looking good.

The pandemic hastened the uptake of experience-enhancing and margin-increasing property technology or proptech, among the Australian property industry. The Property Council of Australia surveyed 216 industry professionals in November and found that 55 per cent are enhancing their existing technology systems in response to COVID, and 27 percent are investing in new systems.

You can read more about DIVVY’s latest proptech products, Drive-Up and Check-In, in this update.

Drive Up with DIVVY

We’ve all had days where we’ve forgotten to pre-book our parking. That’s why we launched Drive Up casual parking. It’s everything our customers love about parking with DIVVY – cashless, ticketless, contactless and above all, easy – but without the need to book in advance.

We partnered with Enacon Parking to install Drive Up at their Bella Vista car park in December. It’s a busy open-air site next to Norwest Private Hospital and CircaRetail Shopping Centre.

We’ve had great success with two Drive Up products at the site, starting with Pay on Entry, where visitors are charged a set all-day rate as they enter the car park. Pay on Exit is now installed at the site, charging drivers at the car park exit a fee based on the duration of their stay.

DIVVY Drive Up replaces a pull-ticket and cash payment system at the Bella Vista site, and is already saving Enacon five hours of cash collection, ticket refill and maintenance labour per week, not to mention the cost of the paper tickets.

Drive Up is coming to more locations across Sydney soon, so keep your eye out for DIVVY Drive Up parking near you.

Parking is the hot ticket in 2021

Have you seen our fresh new website?

Many people have returned to workplaces after spending most of last year working from home, and lots of them are avoiding public transport and looking for parking instead.

Our new website was launched at just the right time in October last year. In the first two months of 2021, our website traffic and user sign ups have been at record levels, with site traffic up more than 100 per cent at the same time last year.

Check out the new staff parking case studies or technology page for yourself!

Check In with DIVVY

As Australia adjusts to the latest version of the new COVID normal, we’re evolving our proptech too. Our Queuing and Contact Tracing platform was designed to last year to help businesses (including Woolworths) communicate to customers their busiest periods and days and in-store wait times.

Now we’re developing Check In, a visitor management solution using DIVVY QR code technology to check visitors or staff into a business’s premises. Check In can be used for contact tracing purposes, or to maintain a record of personnel on site at any given time, and is designed to meet the needs of the business now and into the future.

Get the most out of your staff parking

Find out how the TOGA Group reduced their overheads while supporting their staff through the pandemic with DIVVY Enterprise’s staff parking management system.

Contact Us

The DIVVY team is always here to help. For more information, please contact Kat Fowler, DIVVY’s Marketing and Communications Manager at kat@divvy.com.au.  

Categories
News

Monthly parking – the best value for regular commuters

Sydney City or Sydney CBD

For the regular commuter, a monthly parking booking offers the ultimate in value and convenience. But make sure you get in quick – monthly parking is so simple, handy and affordable that spaces fill up fast. 

Best value 

Booking your parking ‘in bulk’ with a monthly booking means you secure a reduced rate. For full-time commuters, there is no better value than monthly parking.

So convenient 

A monthly parking commitment saves you the time and bother of finding and paying for a new parking space every day. If you have offsite meetings or appointments, with a monthly booking you can leave and return to your parking space throughout the day without penalty or hassle. And there’s no need to fiddle with payment machines; your monthly parking is prepaid and completely cashless.  

Nice and easy  

When you’re booking your monthly parking on the DIVVY app or website, be sure to search at least three days in advance to ensure that all available parking is displayed in the results. Once you’ve made your booking, you can cross parking off your to-do list for weeks.

DIVVYs Monthly parking options 

DIVVY offers affordable and handy monthly parking options in sought-after central locations.  

Monthly parking can be booked with DIVVY at more than 15 car parks across Sydney city, from Circular Quay to Surry Hills, Barangaroo to Darling Harbour. There are also centrally-located monthly parking choices in Parramatta and Melbourne city.  

Because it offers such good value and is so convenient, monthly parking is popular. Make sure you book early to avoid disappointment. 

List your unused parking spaces with DIVVY 

Your business could be generating revenue from unused parking spaces by listing them with DIVVY Marketplace booking platform.  

DIVVY Marketplace connects drivers with convenient parking spaces and converts underutilised parking spaces into revenue for businesses. With a database of 80,000 parking customers, DIVVY reaches a lot of Australian drivers looking for a parking space.  

DIVVY Marketplace parkers and businesses have access to dedicated customer support staff via phone, live chat or email 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They can solve problems on the ground with their ability to operate boom gates and roller doors remotely.  

Monthly parking is very popular with DIVVY customers. If you have a parking space sitting idle, maximise that asset and list it with DIVVY Marketplace. 

To find out more about listing your parking spaces with DIVVY, contact sales@divvy.com.au.  

Categories
News

Daily parking – the best choice for longer stays

Driving in Sydney city

Going somewhere for more than a few hours? Daily parking is your best bet.

More adaptable than monthly parking and offering better value than hourly parking, daily parking offers a great mix of flexibility, convenience and affordability.  

Good value

If you’re planning on staying a while, daily parking is the most cost-effective parking choice. For stays longer than a few hours, daily rates represent better value than hourly rates. Evening, weekend and motorbike daily rates are even more affordable. If you’re a part-time commuter only parking a few days a week, daily parking will cost you less than monthly parking.

Saves time

Pre-booking your daily parking with DIVVY is a time saver. Not only do you save time spent looking for somewhere to park, but because you’ve pre-paid you don’t need to waste any time at the payment machine when it’s time to leave either. Booking via the DIVVY app or website is quick and simple.

Contactless parking

Avoid ticket machines and cash payments when you book your daily parking with DIVVY. DIVVY’s QR code technology means entering and exiting the car park is contactless, and because your parking is pre-paid, it’s cashless too.

Peace of mind

You can relax when you pre-book your daily parking with DIVVY. Rest easy knowing your car is parked in a monitored, secure and well-lit car park. For added convenience, your parking receipt is emailed to you, making it easy to find at tax time or to claim reimbursement from your employer.

DIVVY’s daily parking options in Sydney city, Parramatta and Melbourne

DIVVY offers drivers affordable and convenient daily parking in sought-after locations like Parramatta, Surry Hills, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, Sydney city and Melbourne city.

Check out our website or the DIVVY app for daily parking near you.

The benefits of listing car parking spaces with DIVVY

In cities across Australia, DIVVY Marketplace connects drivers with underutilised or empty car spaces. If your business has car spaces that are sitting empty, you could be generating revenue by listing parking spaces on DIVVY Marketplace to be booked by the public.

The system is completely flexible, allowing businesses to set the parameters around which spaces are available for booking, and when. Businesses can even decide to whom the spaces are made available for booking.

DIVVY marketing reaches a database of 80,000 parking customers looking for a car space. DIVVY Marketplace is supported by a dedicated customer support team on hand for parkers and businesses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year via phone, live chat or email. With their ability to operate boom gates and roller doors remotely, they can solve problems on the ground.

To find out more about listing your parking spaces with DIVVY, contact sales@divvy.com.au.

Categories
News

Fringe Benefit Tax changes are coming to the parking

Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)-Employers, don’t get caught out by FBT changes

There is a prospective change coming to fringe benefits tax (FBT) and car parking. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has prepared a draft taxation ruling that proposes to treat any car park that offers all-day parking as a commercial car park for FBT purposes. 

This is even if the car park’s fees are so high as to discourage all-day parking. Under that definition, shopping centre, hospital, airport and university car parks could all be considered commercial car parks.  

Businesses whose staff parking facilities are both in the vicinity of the workplace and within one kilometre of such a car park may now have to pay FBT on the taxable value of employees’ car spaces, where previously they did not. 

Any business that provides employees with car parking but is currently exempt from FBT on that parking needs to assess whether these changes will impact them, and make that assessment sooner rather than later. 

Businesses in areas like Sydney’s Macquarie Park and North Ryde, home to car parks associated with Macquarie University and Macquarie Centre shopping centre, will potentially be impacted by these changes. 

Local transport management association Connect Macquarie Park & North Ryde is helping to educate their members about the prospective changes. Some of these businesses may be liable for thousands of dollars in car parking fringe benefits tax for the first time, and it is important that they determine now whether their liability is going to change.  

The prospective changes have the potential to affect any business in Australia within a kilometre of a shopping centre, airport, university or hospital car park. Those in areas like Melbourne’s Carlton and Parkville, with their plethora of car parks associated with the University of Melbourne and RMIT, could be affected. 

Businesses in Eagle Farm, Hendra and Nundah within a kilometre of the numerous Brisbane Airport parking facilities should assess whether they will be impacted by the changes. Organisations in proximity to Adelaide’s largest shopping centre Westfield Marion and its car parks, need to do the same. 

If businesses determine now that they will be affected by the changes, they can get ahead of the game and invest in smarter parking technology that can save them money at tax time. The ATO calculates how much FBT is payable on a car parking space based on its utilisation.

If a business can show, with thorough, accurate, real-time reporting, that utilisation is low – perhaps whilst their employees are working from home, for example – they can reduce their FBT liability. To be able to demonstrate this when FBT is due, businesses need to put the smarter parking systems in place now. 

For a few years now, DIVVY has been working with Connect and several Macquarie Park and North Ryde businesses, including Downer, Boral, Novartis and DXC Technology, to help them get the most out of their car parking and other bookable assets.  

Even our existing clients might not know that DIVVY’s fringe benefits tax reporting has been given the thumbs up by Deloitte Private, who acknowledge that using DIVVY’s reports can, in the relevant circumstances, result in a reduction to the car parking fringe benefits tax payable.  

The ATO’s final ruling is expected later this year and the changes will take place from April 2021.  

Car parking fringe benefits tax change is almost certainly coming, so make sure you take those proactive steps now. 

This is general information, and we recommend that you seek professional taxation advice relevant to your circumstances.  

For more information, please contact Kat Fowler, DIVVY’s Marketing and Communications Manager at kat@divvy.com.au.  

Categories
News

Hourly car parking – affordable, convenient and easy

Sydney, Darling Harbour during the weekday

In a city like Sydney, the easiest way to get around is often in your own car. But where to park? Find out how DIVVY’s hourly parking makes parking in Sydney so simple.

It’s affordable

Some car parking operators charge a premium for hourly parking, especially in areas of high demand like the Sydney CBD. DIVVY is different. Our weekday Sydney city parking starts from $5 an hour, and weekend and evening rates are even lower. It’s almost certainly cheaper than a taxi or a ride share, and you might even find that DIVVY’s hourly parking is cheaper than taking public transport.

It’s quick

Pre-book your hourly parking on the DIVVY app or website before you leave home, and you’re good to go. No more time wasted driving the streets looking for a park. The booking process itself is super quick and easy too.

It’s convenient

Use the DIVVY website or app to book a park where you need it, when you need it. It’s that simple. Only book the amount of time you need – no need to pay for a whole day if you’re only staying an hour. Your receipt is automatically emailed to you, giving you an easy-to-find record of your parking if you want to claim reimbursement from your employer or for use at tax time.

It’s secure

DIVVY car parks are well-lit, monitored and secure. No more worrying about your car left parked on the street, or fumbling for your keys in the dark.

It’s contactless

When you pre-book your hourly parking with DIVVY, you’re securing yourself a cashless, contactless parking space. DIVVY’s unique QR code technology means no ticket machines.

Why list car parking spaces with DIVVY?

Maybe your business has more car spaces on its lease than it needs, or perhaps your car spaces are going temporarily unused whilst your employees work remotely. Businesses can list their unused parking spaces on DIVVY Marketplace for booking by the public. Every parking space booked returns revenue to your business.

DIVVY markets to a database of 80,000 parking customers, saving businesses from having to invest in marketing of their own to fill parking spaces. Businesses have the option to exercise discretion around who can access listed spaces, thereby eliminating any security concerns. Support is available to all parkers and businesses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year via phone, live chat and email, and DIVVY customer support staff can solve problems on the ground with their ability to operate boom gates and roller doors.

To find out more about listing your parking spaces with DIVVY, contact sales@divvy.com.au.