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acquire residential property

Can an SMSF trustee ever acquire residential property from a related party?

Many would say that the trustee of an SMSF is prohibited from ever acquiring residential property from related parties of the SMSF (including members). However, there are three main circumstances where this could happen without contravening superannuation law. All of the circumstances involve the concept of ‘business real property’. Business real property Broadly, SMSF trustees [read more]

corporate SMSF trustee

You should have a sole purpose corporate SMSF trustee

Australian Taxation Office statistics suggest that a large majority of SMSFs have individual trustees. This is troubling, considering that sole purpose corporate SMSF trustees have been known to be superior for many years. This covers the main reasons to have a sole purpose corporate trustee. The ‘sole purpose’ indicates that the company only acts in [read more]

SMSFs and employee share schemes

SMSFs and employee share schemes

This article examines whether an SMSF can acquire shares offered under an employee share scheme (‘ESS’). What is an ESS? Broadly, an ESS (also known as an employee share plan or employee share ownership plan) typically gives employees the opportunity to purchase shares in their employer. Usually, employees are able to obtain more favourable terms [read more]

ato's revised view on lrbas and the nali risk

ATO’s revised view on LRBAs and the NALI risk

By: Daniel Butler, Director and Rebecca James, Special Counsel Overview of TD 2016/16 The Australian Taxation Office (‘ATO’) released Taxation Determination TD 2016/16 — Income tax: will the ordinary or statutory income of a self-managed superannuation fund be non-arm’s length income under subsection 295-550(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) when the parties to [read more]

New aat decision good news SMSF real estate developments via unit trusts

New AAT decision is good news for SMSF real estate developments via unit trusts

The recent decision of FLZY and Commissioner of Taxation [2016] AATA 348 is good news for SMSF real estate developments via unit trusts. Background Many SMSFs want to have some investment exposure to real estate development. A popular structure is for the SMSF to invest in a related unit trust and then the unit trust [read more]

Financial Ombudsman Service — what advisers need to consider

Financial Ombudsman Service — what advisers need to consider

Overview The Financial Ombudsman Service (‘FOS’) is the main external disputes resolution (‘EDR’) for accountants and financial advisers who have an Australian Financial Services Licence (‘AFSL’). Advisers who have an AFSL must be a party to an EDR process. Where an adviser is an authorised representative of another entity’s AFSL, they are subject to the [read more]

Tips and traps on transferring life estate interests to an SMSF

Tips and traps on transferring life estate interests to an SMSF

There has been recent press publicity regarding SMSF members transferring life estate interests in business real property (‘BRP’) by way of an in kind or ‘in specie’ contributions to self managed superannuation funds (‘SMSF’). This article briefly examines some of the key points relating to these transactions and provides an update on my latest experience [read more]

Collectables and personal use assets in an SMSF

Collectables and personal use assets in an SMSF

All newly acquired investments by SMSF trustees in collectables and personal use assets since 1 July 2011 have been subject to strict rules under reg 13.18AA of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 (Cth) (‘SISR’). However, SMSF trustees should be aware that the grandfathering relief in relation to such investments that were held prior to [read more]

SMSFs with related party LRBA borrowings

SMSFs with related party LRBA borrowings

On Monday 10 November 2015, Daniel Butler, in his role as the chair of The Tax Institute’s National Superannuation Committee, attended a meeting of the Superannuation Industry Relationship Network (‘SIRN’) with representatives of the ATO and a range of industry stakeholders. ATO amnesty on non-commercial LRBAs At this meeting, the ATO confirmed that there is [read more]