Disclaimer: DBA Lawyers advised the plaintiffs during the course of litigation. We only mention facts made publicly available in the judgement. The recent decision of Wooster v Morris [2013] VSC 594 is the most important decision ever regarding SMSF succession planning. All SMSF practitioners must be aware of its facts and its vital lessons. However, [read more]
Meet Graeme Graeme is a 56 years old builder. He has been married and divorced and has adult children from that marriage. He now has a second spouse. Graeme and the second spouse are members of an SMSF together. They are also the trustees of the SMSF. His SMSF has acquired vacant real estate. The [read more]
This article outlines some of the key international issues facing SMSFs today and addresses the practical skills necessary to ensure that these matters are handled effectively. SMSF residency SMSFs are generally not appropriate for people who spend extended time overseas. Such funds can easily lose their complying status and suffer significant tax penalties. Residency requirements [read more]
Many do not realise the extent of the disqualified person provisions in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (‘SISA’). This can result in a person inadvertently acting as trustees of self managed superannuation funds (‘SMSF’) while disqualified. Doing so exposes these trustees to significant penalties. We explore some of the nuances of the disqualified [read more]
Introduction In recent times we have seen significant changes to the rules surrounding pensions. At last, these rules appear to be reasonably settled with the finalisation of TR 2011/D3 (in the form of TR 2013/5 and SMSFD 2013/2) and the expanded income tax regulations (refer to regs 307-125.02 and 995-1.01 of the Income Tax Assessment [read more]
