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]
In taxation ruling TR 2010/1 the ATO consider what is a contribution to a superannuation fund and when a contribution is made. A recent court case, Liwszyc v Commissioner of Taxation [2014] FCA 112, answers the question of whether the ATO actually got it right in TR 2010/1. Liwszyc v Commissioner of Taxation also contains [read more]
Australian Taxation Office Interpretative Decision ATO ID 2014/6 provides insights into when a person is financially dependent on someone else. However, it might not provide the ‘full’ picture for many seeking answers about financial dependency. The article seeks to fill in the gaps. Facts of ATO ID 2014/6 The facts of ATO ID 2014/6 are [read more]
Some advisers may have previously recommended that there are opportunities to continue paying a pension following a member’s death to their deceased estate. However, ATO ID 2014/2 provides a real hurdle to this strategy! (Note that this has been a somewhat busy time for the ATO and interpretative decisions regarding pensions. The ATO also recently [read more]
Since 2010 I’ve been lecturing at Melbourne University, presenting the SMSF component of the Master of Laws subject ‘Superannuation Law‘. Melbourne University is my ‘alma mater’. I fully enjoyed studying there for my undergraduate degrees and masters degree and I’m always very happy to be able to give back to the legal community. I’m lecturing [read more]
The ATO recently released an important draft tax ruling TR 2013/D7 (‘D7’) that focuses on the apportionment of expenses incurred by a superannuation fund where a fund derives both assessable and non-assessable income. D7 is proposed to take effect from 1 July 2014 and then supersede TR 97/13 which currently provides guidance on apportioning expenses. [read more]
A new ATO release (TD 2013/22) provides further guidance for contribution reserving. In many ways, it is very similar to its predecessor, ATO ID 2012/16. However, it has some important differences. The facts The facts of TD 2013/22 are very comparable to ATO ID 2012/16, which encouraged the growth of contribution reserving. In TD 2013 [read more]
Introduction Related parties can lend to SMSFs; however, many related parties wish to not just lend to an SMSF, but lend to the SMSF on very friendly terms, including nil interest rates. Many have said that this arrangement is okay, while others have gone so far as to say that the ATO have approved of nil interest [read more]
We consider the latest in SMSF borrowing, focusing on when a holding trust is a bare trust and why it matters. Is a ‘holding trust’ a bare trust? The status of the ‘holding trust’ may have a significant bearing on the LRBA’s long-term CGT and related tax efficiency. Bill Shorten, the then Assistant Treasurer announced [read more]
Many people want their family trusts to be able to contribute to super and claim a deduction for this. However, many people are missing an important paragraph from an ATO ruling that could spell trouble. (This is in spite of the recent decision of Kelly v FCT [2013] FCAFC 88.) Luckily, there is a simple [read more]
