By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers The ATO has released material saying that SMSF property developments can be considered tax avoidance schemes that are ‘too good to be true’. Within the program called ‘Super Scheme Smart’, the ATO aims to educate the public about SMSF strategies that concern it. The page, which can be accessed [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers The Australian Taxation Office (‘ATO’) has issued SMSF Regulator’s Bulletin SMSFRB 2018/1 ‘The use of reserves by self-managed superannuation funds’. This is the most comprehensive material ever released by the ATO on the use of reserves by self managed superannuation funds (‘SMSFs’). This article highlights the ATO’s views on when [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director and William Fettes, Senior Associate, DBA Lawyers The total superannuation balance (‘TSB’) is one of the most important new concepts introduced as part of the major superannuation reforms that broadly came into effect on 1 July 2017. Many superannuation obligations and rights depend on a member’s TSB: broadly the total amount a [read more]
Daniel Butler ([email protected]), Director and Bryce Figot ([email protected]), Special Counsel, DBA Lawyers The new transfer balance cap regime can make succession planning tricky. A member may desire to make their pensions reversionary upon death. However, there may be situations where receiving these reversionary pensions would cause the beneficiary to exceed their transfer balance cap. Consequently, [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers This article looks at the actions and penalties the ATO can impose on trustees of self managed superannuation funds (‘SMSF’). In 2014, a new regime added the following compliance powers to the ATO’s arsenal: Education directions Rectification directions Administrative penalties In addition to the above, the ATO has the [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Contributions made in excess of an individual’s concessional contributions (‘CC’) cap can give rise to extra tax payable and a liability to excess CC (‘ECC’) charge for the individual. This article highlights how the ECC charge operates. Note that the law in this area is complex and a detailed and [read more]
By: Daniel Butler, Director ([email protected]), DBA Lawyers The mid-2017 superannuation reforms have had a profound impact on market linked pensions (‘MLPs’). While most of the planning should have already been implemented, there is still some opportunity to review and potentially restructure clients with MLPs. We briefly examine below the treatment of an MLP depending on whether [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Removing a member from a self managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) is not a simple process, particularly where there is a dispute or some animosity among members. Here are some situations that DBA Lawyers has come across: family members have a falling out with a particular family member that they [read more]
Daniel Butler ([email protected]), Director, DBA Lawyers Company constitutions are often treated as a commodity even though they are a very critical document to the overall effective operation of a company. A constitution, for instance, governs the company’s decision making, powers including the appointment and removal of officers, shareholders and many other aspects of a company. [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Small private companies frequently act as trustees for SMSFs or trusts, and sometimes in their own right. These companies are governed by their constitution (a set of internal rules). Standard constitutions for a private company are often outdated and contain many pitfalls for the unwary. On the other hand, the [read more]
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