FAQs
Oly’s novated lease frequently asked questions
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General questions
What’s the difference between a novated lease and a car loan?
With a regular car loan, you’d be making repayments with your post-tax salary. With a novated lease, your payment uses some of your pre-tax salary, which could lower your taxable income.
Then there’s the fact that all your running costs are bundled into one regular, easy, automatic payment.
PLUS Oly helps you find your new car, takes care of most of the admin and makes it easy to switch your car for a new one once your lease is up.
You won’t find a car loan that can do any of that!
A novated lease is based around a fixed length of time. So, if you decide to end the lease early, your payout might be higher than the market value of the car (and could include fees and charges from the money people).
When you set up your lease, it’s a great idea to structure it over a period that reflects how long you’ll want to keep the car to avoid any of those early cancellation fees.
For tyre replacements, you can head straight to any of Oly’s favourite suppliers, including:
- Beaurepaires
- Bridgestone
- Bob Jane T-Marts
- Goodyear
- JAX Tyres
- K-Mart Tyre & Auto
- TyrePower
Or, if you prefer, you can go with any other tyre supplier of your choice!
Oly has special pricing agreements with each of the tyre suppliers listed. Get in touch with Oly to make sure you have access to these VIP prices.
Servicing costs are all included as part of an Oly novated lease. In most cases, you’ll be able to get two services a year, depending on time or mileage.
It’s easy too. When you drop your car off at your local service centre, let them know Oly looks after your car and ask them to contact Oly on 1300 328 186 before they kick-off any work.
Oly will stay in touch with them to make sure:
- All the work meets the car maker’s standards
- All the work makes sense for your car’s age and condition
- You’re not being ripped off on labour or parts
Oly will organise payment directly from your account and your mechanic will contact you to collect your car.
Note: any additional services you choose to get between your car’s scheduled services aren’t included in your Oly payment. If you’re looking to get some maintenance work done outside of your standard budget, call Oly on 1300 328 186 to talk through your options.
Before you go on unpaid leave, get in touch to let Oly know (the earlier the better).
When you take unpaid leave, your boss will stop paying funds into your novated lease account, so there might not be enough cash in your account to cover your regular payments. Oly can discuss some options to help avoid any unexpected bills.
You can access all your info through the Oly app.
Once you’re logged in, you can check your transactions, change your details… anything!
If you don't have the app, go to oly.com.au/my-account, and follow the prompts to download.
Oly will help you out with your application after you get in touch, but it might be helpful to know:
- The make and model of your current car if you have one
- An idea of the car you’d like to get
- A rough idea of your current car’s running costs (again, if you have one)
- A guess at how many kms you think you’ll travel each year
- Your annual income and employer info
Have a good read of the numbers and the fine print in the estimate to make sure you’re happy (seek your own financial and tax advice). If you have questions get in touch!
Confirm you’re ready for your Oly novated lease offer to be sent out to you.
Once you’ve read the offer, sign and send it back to Oly.
Read and sign your lease documentation.
Confirm delivery or pickup of your car.
Hop in your new car and pick your first driving playlist!
If you’re spending MORE than budgeted…
It happens! You might find yourself having to drive a little more and spending more on petrol than you thought. Get in touch to chat about making changes to your contribution amounts so you know you’ve always got enough funds to cover your car’s running costs.
If you’re spending LESS than budgeted…
You might have an excess of funds in your Oly account! Wooo! Get in touch to have this cash returned to you (through your payroll) whenever you like. If you find this happening often, you can also adjust your regular payments
Unfortunately, you can’t lease a car that’s designed to carry more than one tonne (that’s the weight of a hippo or a small elephant), or to carry nine passengers or more.
If you’ve got any worries, contact Oly to discuss your dream car.
Oly will get in touch with you before your contract ends to chat about your options. These might include:
- Getting a new car! Take out a new lease, upgrade to the latest hot ride, and keep enjoying the convenience and potential tax savings. All you have to do is trade in your current vehicle and pay any amount owing.
- Refinancing. Extend your lease by refinancing the residual amount (the balloon payment you owe at the end of your lease) and keep making handy regular payments on the car you’ve already got. Conditions might apply if the car is more than seven years old at the end of the lease, or if it’s valued below $5,000.
- Keeping the car. Buy your ride outright by paying the residual amount and keep the good times going (conditions may apply).
Get in touch with Oly for more info or to discuss your specific circumstances.
There are plenty of reasons you might change your job (expectedly or unexpectedly) before the end of your novated lease. If this happens, you can choose to:
- Pay the remaining lease payments and buy the car outright by paying the residual value.
- Keep making the payments for the lease and running costs yourself with your post-tax dollars.
- Get your new boss to agree to transfer the lease to your new job.
Whichever one you choose, or if you’re having trouble figuring out the best option, get in touch.
Whether you do less than 10,000kms a year or more than 50,000kms, a novated lease from Oly could save you money.
Punch your info into the novated lease calculator to see how the amount of kilometres you drive a year might affect your payments.
Not only could a Oly novated lease save you money, it removes a lot of the hassle that comes with owning a car.
Once you’ve decided on your car (yep, Oly can help with that too!), Oly will set up a simple annual budget that bundles up all those pesky running costs – that’s petrol, servicing, rego, insurance and the car itself, obviously – into one regular payment.
Then, once you get your car, that payment gets taken directly out of your pay using a combination of your pre- and post-tax salary. If you’re leasing an eligible electric car, the payment is all taken before tax.
Let’s break all those benefits down:
- Buying power
Since Oly buys so many cars from dealerships across the country, you could get access to some pretty amazing deals. - Tax savings
Some (or all) of your payments are made with pre-tax dollars, so your taxable income is reduced. That means you could pay less tax! Even better: you could skip the upfront GST on your new ride too. - Less hassle
Oly sorts out all the administrative stuff, including finding your new car, dealing with the money people, and sorting insurance. That means less stress and more time cruising with the windows down. - Better budgeting
That one regular payment includes your car AND all your running costs. That means no more of those terrifying registration or insurance renewal bills. - Flexibility
With Oly, you can choose the car you want to drive, whether it’s new, used or the car you’ve already got.
Electric cars
Can I take out a novated lease on an electric vehicle (EV)?
Absolutely! There’s actually no better way to get an EV than with a novated lease. Eligible electric cars under the government’s EV Discount don’t attract fringe benefits tax, so your entire novated lease payment can be taken from your salary before tax (which could mean you pay less tax!).
Not only that, when you use a novated lease to get an EV, there’s no upfront GST cost to you.
Plus, you get all the other benefits from taking out a novated lease, like having all your car-related expenses bundled into one regular payment.
If it’s included in the cost of the car, then the charger will be bundled neatly into your novated lease payment.
Unfortunately, the current rules don’t allow third-party chargers bought separately to be bundled into a novated lease (but obviously Oly will let you know if that changes…).
The government’s EV Discount applies to all eligible electric cars, provided they were leased after 1 July 2022 and cost less than the luxury car threshold of $91,387 (as of July 1, 2024).
If you’re looking to pick up a petrol-based plug-in hybrid (PHEVs), the discount only applies on leases taken out before 1 April 2025.
To try to encourage more drivers to pick up an electric car, the government has dished out an exemption to the fringe benefits tax for low-emission cars valued under $91,387 (the luxury car tax threshold as of July 1, 2024).
That means when you use Oly to get into an EV, your novated lease payments can be taken entirely from your pre-tax salary, which could mean having to pay less tax.
Add an exemption to the 5% import tax for most EVs, and the fact that there is no upfront GST cost to you when using a novated lease on an EV, and you could get a shiny new electric Tesla 3 for the same cost per week as a petrol Mazda CX-5.
Ordinarily, taking out a novated lease means you might end up having to pay fringe benefits tax (FBT). When you get a petrol or diesel car, Oly reduces that risk by taking some of your lease payments from your pre-tax salary and the rest after tax.
EVs under $91,387 (as of July 1, 2024) are exempt from the FBT, so Oly can take your whole payment from your pre-tax salary which could reduce your taxable income and put an even bigger smile on your face.
Insurance
Do I need a ‘preferred repairer’?
Oly reckons safe drivers shouldn't have to fork out higher premiums to make up for the dodgier ones.
To make this dream a reality, Oly’s insurer underwrites each policy individually and works out your premium based only on your driving record (not everyone else’s…), so you don't pay extra for bad apples/drivers.
By not disclosing your driving record, past claims or accidents when asked, a claim you make in the future might only be partially paid or not paid at all.
The above information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, needs and circumstances. You should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your personal circumstances and consider the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination available on the Insurance Disclosures page and obtain independent financial advice before making any decision in relation to an insurance product.
Agreed value is a fixed amount you and the insurer agree to insure your car for, and the most that will be paid if you ever make a claim. You can change this amount whenever you renew your policy.
Market value is what your insurer thinks it would cost to replace your car with one of the same make, model, age and condition as your car when it was lost or damaged (not including warranty, stamp duty or transfer costs).
For an idea of what your car is worth, check out redbook.com.au.
The above information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, needs and circumstances. You should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your personal circumstances and consider the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination available on the Insurance Disclosures page and obtain independent financial advice before making any decision in relation to an insurance product.
Nope! If you’re happy with your current car insurance provider or just want to find your own, Oly will simply add their annual premium to your lease budget.
The above information is factual and is not intended to convey any opinion or recommendation about any financial product. You should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your personal circumstances and consider the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination available on the Insurance Disclosures page and obtain independent financial advice before making any decision in relation to an insurance product
Other
What does the ‘employee contribution method' mean?
It’s a little complicated, but the employee contribution method (ECM) is a calculation made by Oly to help reduce your chances of paying fringe benefits tax (FBT) on your novated lease at the end of the FBT year (31 March). By taking your payments from both your pre- and after-tax salary, Oly may be able to help you save money on your car without increasing the chances of a FBT bill.
You can check the ECM portion of your payments in your quote or figure out the amount you may have to pay when you sign up with Oly by using the online calculator.
Want to avoid the ECM and FBT? Taking out a novated lease on an eligible electric car under the luxury car tax threshold means you don’t have to worry about either of them!
Fringe benefits tax (FBT) is a tax that gets applied to any benefits you might get from your employer that aren’t your salary or wages. An Oly novated lease is one of those benefits, so it might mean you end up having to pay FBT.
Oly uses the employee contribution method (ECM), which takes some of your lease payments from your after-tax salary to help reduce your chances of paying fringe benefits tax (FBT) on your novated lease at the end of the FBT year (31 March).
Thanks to the government’s EV Discount policy, eligible electric cars and petrol-based plug-in hybrids* (PHEVs) are exempt from FBT, so your novated lease payments can all be taken from your pre-tax salary.
*PHEVs are only FBT exempt until 1 April 2025
You don’t have to be a big earner to get the benefits of a novated lease.
For example, someone earning $90k could save more than $2,572^ each year thanks to the novated leasing tax benefits. Plus, with a single regular payment covering petrol, insurance, servicing, rego and all other running costs, you could be better off compared to other ways of getting into a car.
Go for an electric vehicle (EV) and the savings could be even bigger. With the tax exemptions from the government’s EV Discount initiative, you could end up getting an EV for the same cost per week as a petrol car. That’s like getting a Tesla 3 for the same cost per week as a Mazda CX-5!
^ The estimated potential tax benefit is exclusive of GST and is based on the assumption that you would have paid for the lease from your post-tax salary (as opposed to salary sacrificing those payments from your pre-tax salary or a combination of your pre and post-tax salary). Payment includes: your car payments, registration, tyres, insurance and scheduled servicing. The estimated annual benefit will vary depending upon salary, employment circumstances, selected benefits and applicable tax treatment. The example assumes that you earn $90,000 a year, a 5 year lease term, an annual distance travelled of 15,000 kms, a vehicle valued at $34,000 and a 28.13% residual value. The estimated annual operating costs includes estimates of fuel/charging costs, maintenance, tyres, registration, comprehensive insurance and fees have been calculated on a GST exclusive basis on the assumption that your employer will be entitled to GST input tax credits and will pass on the benefit to you, reducing the impact of the GST. GST is payable on your ECM contributions. State Stamp Duty rates apply. PAYG tax rates effective 1 July 2024 have been used. Individual circumstances may vary. Contact Oly to discuss what you can package given your individual circumstances.
All good! Novated leases can be just as great for casual and part-time workers.
Use the online calculator to see how much a novated lease could end up saving you and speak to your boss about whether they’ll help you get set up.
Note: If you earn less than the tax-free threshold of $18,200, you may not have to pay income tax, and incomes under $26,000 don’t attract the Medicare levy. If you earn less than these amounts, the amount you could save with a novated lease might be affected. Oly suggests you speak to an accountant or financial expert before you sign up for a novated lease.
No catch! Using salary sacrifice to set up a novated lease is a very popular way to get a new car, while also helping you get more out of your pay.
Relax knowing Oly is up-to-date with ATO rulings and all developments in fringe benefits tax legislation.
This general information doesn’t take your personal circumstances into account. Please consider whether this information is right for you before making a decision and seek professional independent tax and financial advice. Employers should independently consider whether a benefits program is appropriate for their organisation and seek advice where appropriate. Conditions and fees apply, along with credit assessment criteria for lease products. The availability of benefits is subject to your organisation’s approval. Oly may pay and/or receive commissions in connection with its services.
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