Daniel Butler, Director and Bryce Figot, Special Counsel, DBA Lawyers Payments above the account-based pension (‘ABP’) minimum annual payment have the potential to become a trap. The June 2017 SMSF Benchmark Report by Class Super states that ‘the average SMSF pensioner withdraws about $74,000 annually on their pension over a series of 12 transactions and [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers, and William Fettes, Senior Associate, DBA Lawyers Introduction A self managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) is a type of trust that, like all trusts, is ‘run’ by its trustee. Case law tells us that one of the most fundamental duties of a trustee is that they obey the rules of [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Introduction A common question we get asked when a client’s self managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) is undertaking a limited recourse borrowing arrangements (‘LRBA’) is whether there needs to be a separate bare trustee (usually a company) for each bare trust. The short answer is no. However, it is helpful [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers This article examines the query of whether having a second or, indeed even more than two, self managed superannuation funds (‘SMSFs’) would give rise to a Part IVA (of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (‘ITAA36’)) risk. Please note that this article is not intended to be a technical [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director and William Fettes, Senior Associate, DBA Lawyers The tax treatment of death benefits paid from an SMSF to a deceased member’s estate can be complex. Tax law contains a ‘look through’ provision in respect of death benefits paid to an estate (ie, to a legal personal representative being the executor of a [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Introduction The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (‘APRA’) has just updated its Superannuation Prudential Practice Guide SPG 280 — Payment Standards (‘SPG’) in June 2017. Of interest in the SPG are APRA’s comments on the retirement definition in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 (Cth) (‘SISR’), in particular it is [read more]
Daniel Butler ([email protected]), Director and Bryce Figot, Special Counsel, DBA Lawyers Broadly, a member’s interest in a superannuation fund is fully protected upon bankruptcy. This protection even extends to lump sums being paid to the bankrupt. A question that may arise is whether this would be true if the benefit being received by the bankrupt [read more]
Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers The transition to retirement income stream (‘TRIS’) entered a new era on 1 July 2017 where most members will want their TRIS to enter retirement phase as soon as possible to gain access to an earnings tax exemption. A new law has provided a roadmap for this TRIS reclassification, but [read more]
Daniel Butler ([email protected]), Director, DBA Lawyers There are many myths held regarding what happens to an individual’s self managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) when they pass away. Relying on these myths may lead to several undesirable outcomes such as: the wrong people receiving the intended proportion of SMSF assets or superannuation; the wrong people being left [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers A reg 13.22C non-geared unit trust (‘NGUT’) is not included as an in-house asset (‘IHA’) at the time of the initial investment provided certain criteria is met. Some trustees may think that they are investing in a reg 13.22C NGUT on the basis that the unit trust does not have [read more]
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