Advanced search

Top Navigation

Author Archive | Bryce Figot

About Bryce Figot

Find more about me on:

Here are my most recent posts

Image lawyer businessman sitting at the office with a woman customer explaining the agreement of advice.

Legal documents – non-legally qualified supplier v. law firm

Overview In today’s market, there are numerous options available for obtaining legal documents such as SMSF, company and trust deeds and related documents (Legal Documents). This article explores the advantages and disadvantages of sourcing documents from a non-legally qualified supplier (Non-Qualified Supplier) compared to a law firm. In this article, we aim to provide relevant [read more]

bigstock-Business-Fraud-Investigation

Approved SMSF auditors and s 109 — a good rule of thumb

As a lawyer, I do a substantial amount of work advising and representing approved SMSF auditors who are being audited/reviewed by the ATO and/or who have been referred to ASIC. Accordingly, I was interested to see an article in selfmanagedsuper quoting ATO Acting Deputy Commissioner Paul Delahunty as follows (https://smsmagazine.com.au/news/2025/01/20/proof-of-transaction-terms-a-concern/): Section 109 [of the SIS Act] [read more]

What is a reversionary pension?

New hope to exit legacy pensions

Yesterday, Treasury released exposure draft regulations to allow people to exit certain legacy pensions. This expands on and supports implementation of the 2021–22 Budget measure to allow exiting certain legacy retirement products. For some this will be highly welcome news! In the next SMSF Online Update, Bryce Figot will unpack these regulations in detail, discussing: [read more]

bigstock-Business-Fraud-Investigation

Approved SMSF auditors and new ATO statistics — what does the ATO reveal?

As a lawyer, I do a substantial amount of work advising and representing approved SMSF auditors who are being audited/reviewed by the ATO and/or who have been referred to ASIC. Accordingly, I paid considerable attention to certain new statistics that the ATO released recently regarding ‘SMSF auditor case outcomes 2023–24. ATO referrals to ASIC are [read more]

bigstock-Business-Fraud-Investigation

Should an SMSF auditor perform a title search for each title each year?

As a lawyer, I do a lot of work advising and representing approved SMSF auditors who are being audited/reviewed by the ATO and/or who have been referred to ASIC. In September, I will present on this topic at the SMSF Association’s ‘SMSF Audit Day’. More specifically, I will present a topic titled ‘Facing the Regulators: [read more]

Signing a contract.

Executing deeds: Ensuring validity across all Australian jurisdictions

Historically, deeds were required to be written on paper (or parchment or vellum), as well as being signed, sealed and delivered. Recently, however, there have been numerous legislative developments that allow for deeds to be executed electronically, subject to certain requirements. These requirements differ depending on the Australian state/territory’s laws the deed is subject to. [read more]

Sales of Property Rights

Ruhe (Trustee) v Rodmarg Pty Ltd, in the matter of Bankrupt estates of Power [2024] FCA 638 — Recent decision on superannuation and bankruptcy

A recent Federal Court decision has held that a transfer of units in a unit trust to an SMSF was void pursuant to s 128B of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) (BA). The decision of Ruhe (Trustee) v Rodmarg Pty Ltd, in the matter of Bankrupt estates of Power [2024] FCA 638 demonstrates the circumstances [read more]

Male Lawyer Discussing Negotiation Legal Case With Client Meetin

Merchant v Commissioner of Taxation [2024] AATA 1102 — Latest AAT decision on disqualification

A recent AAT decision demonstrates circumstances of a successful challenge to a disqualification made pursuant to s 126A of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (SISA). The decision of Merchant v Commissioner of Taxation [2024] AATA 1102 also highlights the dangers of what may, at face value, seem like ordinary investments such as acquiring [read more]

Arms touching expenses

ATO guidance on managing trust distributions

Overview The taxation of trusts continues to be an area of scrutiny for the ATO. The ATO has released a webpage titled ‘Trust distributions done right’ that provides guidance to practitioners on how to prepare for year-end trust distributions. The webpage (QC 101752) can be found here. Clearly, the ATO is concerned with trustees and [read more]