Overview This article provides a brief summary of the excess contributions tax (‘ECT’) regime. It also summarises the latest developments including the May 2014 Federal Budget announcement, the latest statistical information and covers several key recommendations made by the Inspector-General of Taxation (‘IGT’). Brief summary The ECT regime was introduced in July 2007 as a [read more]
On Friday the Supreme Court of Queensland handed down what I believe is a ‘first of its kind’ judgement. McIntosh v McIntosh [2014] QSC 99 was the first time that the following specific question was expressly considered by a court: If a person is eligible to receive a deceased’s super both as the deceased’s legal [read more]
Recent ATO materials suggest non-arm’s length limited recourse borrowing arrangements will give rise to huge tax problems. More specifically, the materials suggest income derived can be non-arm’s length income (ie, taxed at 45%) where the LRBA favours the SMSF. This could come as a shock as many have incorrectly said the ATO has previously ‘green [read more]
The trustee of a regulated superannuation fund is prohibited from lending money to a member of the fund (and/or a member’s relatives). However, what if the trustee lends to a related company of which the member is the sole director and shareholder? Subject to proper structuring this can be a viable strategy and even has [read more]
This article originally appeared in the March 2014 edition of Asset Magazine (Financial Review). If superannuation death benefits are paid to the estate, a quirk in the law can mean higher tax and increased administration costs. Advisers are well-placed to add value by alerting clients and lawyers to this possible tax trap. Where does a [read more]
At DBA Lawyers we like to think of our SMSF deed as being the Rolls Royce of SMSF deeds. We constantly review, refine, test, debate and update it. And we’ve been doing so for well over 20 years. We are Australia leading SMSF law firm with the largest team of dedicated SMSF lawyers. As a [read more]
Introduction What happens when a business borrows from a bank to make extremely large super contributions to an SMSF and then the business folds? Can the bank get its money back? A recent case — Australasian Annuities [2013] VSC 543 — suggests that the answer is no: the bank misses out and the SMSF can [read more]
A little known quirk in the preservation rules can have important implications for clients. This article explains how the quirk arises, and then how to use it to advantage clients. In a nutshell the quirk allows trustees of super funds to ‘cherry pick’ whether to fund pensions from unrestricted non-preserved benefits or preserved benefits. Legislative [read more]
By Daniel Butler, Director, and Bryce Figot, Director, both of DBA Lawyers The ATO has confirmed that contribution reserving is a viable strategy. The ATO has issued an interpretative decision (‘ID’) ATO ID 2012/16 relating to contribution reserving up to 30 June 2013 and a tax determination (‘TD’) TD 2013/22 in respect of contributions made [read more]
Australian Taxation Office Interpretative Decision ATO ID 2014/7 provides the latest on the rules regarding keeping SMSF assets separate. It suggests the position is very strict. However, a deeper technical analysis reveals there might often be some ‘flexibility’. This article concludes that the critical practical implication is that each SMSF should have a sole purpose [read more]
