Letters
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Corporate wellness: a taxing challenge in Australia
Sharon Kolakka, general manager, Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat
Gwinganna is currently offering Dr Friedland’s Achieve Peak Performance programme – mentioned in your corporate wellness feature (see SB12/3 p24) – as a post-retreat package for managing stress. We may offer this to corporate companies in the future, however, health services and laws in Australia pose complex obstacles. All experts in the article had insightful points, yet being all from the US, their views may not translate elsewhere. Australia, for example, has a different healthcare system which negates some of the points made. We’re lucky to have a government- funded healthcare system with free hospitals. Additional specialist care is offered by private insurers and bought by individuals with an incentive for tax relief to help ease the burden on the national system. Yet, to date, not one insurer is offering a provider number – which is needed for a valid claim – for spa or wellness operators: only to individual therapists, such as naturopaths or remedial therapists who meet their regulations. In the big picture, government-funded healthcare means health plans are not
To date, not one insurer in Australia is offering a provider number for spa or wellness operators only to individual therapists
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Gwinganna is capable of delivering corporate wellness packages, but they’re taxed as a fringe benefi t
paid for by employers so, unlike in the US, they’ve no costs to reduce.
Increasing productivity and absenteeism is on their agenda and at Gwinganna we do have corporate clients – usually past guests who purchase packages for their employees, but we’ve found that most of these packages are offered as an incentive for performance – typically for reaching sales targets.
Some smart corporates are recognising it’s better to send employees to Gwinganna than on a vacation of overeating and drinking, as we send them back focused, happier and healthier. Unfortunately, the catch is that companies paying for employees to engage in any wellness and spa activities
in Australia attract a fringe benefi t tax – where they’re taxed for non-cash benefi ts they offer employees – and this is a big obstacle for spas and corporate wellness programmes in our country. When companies are paying for performance incentives, plus paying fringe benefi t tax, there’s little chance they will also pay for health prevention with an additional fringe benefi t tax – hence the incentive-driven aspect rather than the preventative healthcare perspective. There are ways around fringe benefi t tax that we’re currently trying to navigate, however, it’s complex. And I imagine each country will experience its own unique challenge in being successful in the corporate wellness arena.
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SPA BUSINESS 4 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
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