Blog Posts
Changing landscape when dealing with excess contributions?
Much has been talked about of the budget announcements impacting contributions, in particular a flat $25,000 concessional contribution cap that will apply across all individuals from 1 July 2012. Whilst concessional contributions have been impacted, non-concessional contribution amounts will remain at $150,000 p.a. with the bring forward rule available for those under age 65. Given the [...]
Infographic of March 2012 SMSF statistics
The Australian Taxation Office publishes a quarterly statistical report of Self Managed Super Funds. The March quarter again showed strong signs of growth, with an additional 7,152 new establishments, taking the total establishments to 35,868 for the last 12 months. This growth was coupled with positive share market data, which improved the total fund assets [...]
Watch the Federal Budget Webinar
Find out more about the impact of the 2012 Federal Budget on the superannuation sector, by watching this webinar conducted by The SMSF Academy. The webinar looks at the key changes to the additional contributions tax to apply to high income earners and the impact of the deferral of the extended concessional contribution limit for [...]
Budget delivers a fix for now but problems for the future
It was a budget that certainly delivered on news that the Government was tightening its belt to deliver a budget surplus for 2012-13 and superannuation was certainly not immune from this pain. Unfortunately though, as a result of the announced changes in tonight’s budget, we are likely to see confidence in the superannuation sector erode [...]
Wishlist or wishful thinking for a super budget?
Many people within the super industry have been moving uncomfortably in their chairs since the Government filtered out of news of an additional level of contributions tax on high income earners (greater than $300,000). This nervousness is justified as it is again another example of going for an easy revenue grab when confidence and stability [...]
You can budget on a super surcharge!
The media was a buzz over the weekend regarding the proposed budget announcement to increase the contributions tax rate from 15% to 30% for individuals who earn more than $300,000 p.a. In 1996, the Coalition Government introduced the super surcharge to help ‘fix the mess’ of the previous Labor Government. This time, it appears the [...]
Family Law & SMSF Webinar
The SMSF Academy is pleased to announce its next SMSF webinar on Family Law & SMSFs. This session includes Accredited Specialist in Family Law, Melissa Cantwell as a guest panelist. Melissa will discuss key issues of family law when dealing with SMSFs and the important role of the advisor when dealing with payment splitting of [...]
Super tax breaks to go under the knife?
Here we go again… The rumour mill is in full-swing with news that the Labor Government will look to target superannuation in their pursuit of bringing the budget back to surplus. This video courtesy of SkyNews reports that super concessions are set to be cut back in the upcoming budget. What do you think? What [...]
When can a member access super if they have never worked?
I had a question posed to me earlier this week regarding when a member would meet a condition of release if they have never worked. It’s an interesting one because superannuation law prior to age 65 focuses on termination of gainful employment to be able to access superannuation benefits, whether as a lump sum or [...]
Thedunnthing reaches 100,000 visitors
Today I have achieved a wonderful personal milestone, with thedunnthing blog having its 100,000th visitor. I look back to October 2009 when I commenced my blog as a simple idea to help me better understand technical issues and strategies impacting Self Managed Super Funds. The first month had just 145 visitors (I guess you have [...]
Latest SMSF statistical report highlights growth but also the need to greater reform
As we progress (albeit slowly) towards industry reforms with the superannuation sector, it is somewhat timely that the Australian Taxation Office has released their latest statistical overview of the SMSF industry, providing details of the 2009-10 financial year. This statistical report now in its third year of data was first published as part of the Super [...]
Get your June salary sacrifice amounts in order now to avoid excess contributions tax
The recent release of the 2010 ATO excess contribution tax statistics for concessional contributions showed a 296% increase to date in the number of people caught up in this ongoing saga. The key issue that triggered this enormous spike was the Labor Government’s decision to halve the concessional contribution caps from: Under 50 – $50,000 [...]
Death and Taxes with Super Benefits
There has been a significant amount of focus on the benefits of reversionary pensions since the ATO released draft tax ruling, TR 2011/D3. The ruling considers the issue of where a pension will cease in the event of death where there is no automatic reversion to a beneficiary. This reversion will only occur where either: [...]
Greater enforcement to rectify contraventions a key part of the new SMSF landscape
The powers provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to deal with issues of non-compliance by SMSF trustees has been reasonably inadequate, something that was acknowledged by the Cooper Review Panel as part of the Super System Review. The ATO in many respects had been known to have two options in dealing with trustee contraventions: [...]
Latest ATO statistics on excess contributions
The Australian Taxation Office last Friday provided an update to the Excess Contributions Tax (ECT) statistics. Many in the industry have been waiting to see the impact of the Labor Government’s decision to halve the concessional contributions cap for the 2009-10 financial year. As you can see from the chart below, it was significant, with [...]
