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]
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]
Non-arm’s length income (NALI) applies a 45% tax to both ordinary and statutory income of a superannuation fund. A net capital gain is statutory income. However, how does NALI interact with the capital gains tax (CGT) provisions? The ATO has recently released Tax Determination (TD) 2024/5 to outline its current view on the interaction between [read more]
Many advisers favour automatically reversionary pensions (ARPs) as a popular strategy for SMSF succession planning. Indeed, in recent times, ARPs have gained prominence and have often been seen as the default choice by many. For instance, some focus on the 12-month deferral of the transfer balance account (TBA) credit for the reversionary beneficiary, with the [read more]
The short answer is ‘an’ SMSF. The medium answer is that it probably does not really matter, because whichever you use, your reader will almost certainly understand you. However, there is a longer and, we dare say, more fascinating answer. The rule that most of us would recall from school is that we should use [read more]
The ATO is a large bureaucracy and produces a lot of guidance material. Thus it is important that advisers and taxpayers understand the range of material (or products) published by the ATO and the level of protection that each provides. Generally, the ATO feels bound by its published material from an administrative viewpoint. However, only [read more]
Introduction This case note was prepared shortly after the Katz v Grossman decision was handed down in late 2005 and I have updated this newsfeed as it remains relevant today and is a great ‘war story’ for advisers. Indeed, there has been a great number of cases that have since added to our understanding in [read more]
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]
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]
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]
