By William Fettes, Senior Associate and Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers On 22 May 2017, the ATO released a new practical compliance guideline PCG 2017/6 regarding commutation of pre-1 July 2017 death benefit pensions that are currently being paid to a surviving spouse where the spouse would like to retain commuted amounts of pension capital [read more]
Co-authored by Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Due to the complexity of the rules and the importance of complying with the law in relation to the pension exemption, we examine the two methods for calculating ECPI in respect of account style pensions (ie, account-based, allocated and market linked pensions) under the Income Tax Assessment Act [read more]
By William Fettes ([email protected]), Senior Associate and Bryce Figot ([email protected], [email protected]), Special Counsel, DBA Lawyers In the lead up to 30 June 2017, fund members with more than one account-based pension (‘ABP’) and total pension capital greater than $1.6 million will need to make a decision about which ABP to fully or partially commute to [read more]
SMSF trustees that wish to continue as Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (‘QROPS’) will need to provide an undertaking to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (‘HMRC’) that they are aware of certain changes to the UK tax rules that apply to QROPS transfers. These changes are discussed in detail below. The undertaking using HMRC form [read more]
Co-author by Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers Introduction The treatment of a lump sum payment arising from the partial commutation of a pension will be significantly impacted by the super reform measures. This article examines changes from 1 July 2017. Background — lump sums arising from a partial commutation A benefit payment arising from the [read more]
Introduction Superannuation law is currently undergoing the most significant period of change since mid-2007. As a consequence of the Federal Government’s reform measures, including the $1.6 million transfer balance cap (‘TBC’), it is important that the succession plans of fund members are reviewed as soon as possible so that appropriate and tax effective succession arrangements [read more]
Introduction The Federal Government’s $1.6 million transfer balance cap (‘TBC’) measure is likely to adversely impact couples who have pension entitlements exceeding $1.6 million. This articles outlines some of the implications in relation to death benefit pensions. The key TBC provisions are in div 294 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) (‘ITAA 1997’) inserted [read more]
DBA Lawyers is often asked whether a particular SMSF trust deed needs to be updated. As a general guide, we recommend that SMSF trust deeds should be updated every 4–5 years, or sooner in the case of major legislative change. The last major legislative change to superannuation that warranted a blanket update for all SMSF [read more]
Introduction The Department of Treasury on 27 September 2016 released the second tranche of exposure draft legislation and explanatory material in relation to the Federal Government’s proposed superannuation reforms. These materials provide long-awaited detail on the workings of the $1.6 million transfer balance cap measure. This article explains some key take-away points about this measure. [read more]
Introduction A member representative is a person appointed under the governing rules of an SMSF to exercise the rights and entitlements of an SMSF member. A member representative can provide a number of advantages including to ensure that a timely payment of a member’s benefit can occur before death. What is a member representative and [read more]
