There were many people waiting with bated breath for this year’s Federal Budget to see if the Labor Government had any further ‘superannuation tricks’ up their sleeve to address what seemed an ever-growing budget deficit. After announcing a range of reforms on 5 April 2013 to appease much of the constant rumours of an attack … Continue reading »
Watch this video blog post where Aaron discusses his views on the recent talk around changes to superannuation policy, in particular his thoughts about where the Government would be better served to address the issue of equality in tax concessions. Obviously some of these issues aren’t going to be popular with self-funded retirees, but what … Continue reading »
Whilst most of the attention with limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs) has centred around property transactions, there has been a need to clarify a range of issues on other acquirable assets, in particular assets allowable as a collection of identical assets under the definition of a single acquirable asset (SAA). It’s not uncommon when placing an … Continue reading »
After only just discussing the regulatory focus by ASIC on SMSFs and property investments, we have seen further regulatory “alarm bells” ringing through the ATO’s release of taxpayer alert, TA 2012/7. A Taxpayer Alert is an “early warning” of significant new and emerging higher risk tax and superannuation planning issues or arrangements that the ATO … Continue reading »
Keep up-to-date with the latest technical and regulatory issues impacting self-managed super funds with the “SMSF Quarterly Wrap”. The last three months has seen a range of important information or changes impacting SMSFs including: The ATO releasing their compliance program and key target areas for SMSFs; new requirements for SMSF trustees from 1 July 2012 … Continue reading »
Changes to definition of a SMSF It is regularly acknowledged that a Corporate Trustee is a far superior trustee structure rather than individual trustees. There has however been an anomaly with the definition of a SMSF within section 17A of the SIS Act that ultimately required a SMSF with members under 18 (i.e. child) to have … Continue reading »
The ability to take control of your retirement savings is a key driver in the continued growth of SMSFs. However, being a trustee comes with responsibility to ensure that your fund meets strict regulatory and compliance obligations. Failure to meet these can result in significant penalties, along with the potential loss of the fund’s complying … Continue reading »
Watching the current turmoil on the investments markets is a bit like watching a car crash (you can’t look away)… but in these troubled times, it is important to think about and strategies for members within a SMSF. In particular, one strategy allows for a member receiving a pension to capitalise on the current down … Continue reading »
I am pleased to announce the next SMSF Academy InPractice webinar on “Using an anti-detriment strategy effectively within a SMSF”. This one (1) hour webinar will work through: How the anti-detriment tax saving amount is calculated, including discussing the ATO’s recent view’s on this matter; Why it’s now very important to consider claiming an anti-detriment payment … Continue reading »
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently released draft Tax Ruling, TR2011/D3 which outlines when a pension commences and when it ceases. This draft income tax ruling is by no means “earth-shattering” in the context of the views expressed by the ATO. However, it does provide clarity around when a pension commences and ceases, in … Continue reading »