Advanced search

Top Navigation

SMSF Newsfeed

Superannuation reforms – a snapshot as at 20 December 2016

By: Daniel Butler, Director, DBA Lawyers and Philippa Briglia The information below is a broad snapshot summary of recently enacted super reform measures as at 20 December 2016. Note, further reforms have yet to issue. The reforms outlined below largely apply from 1 July 2017 unless stated otherwise. Transfer balance cap A transfer balance cap [read more]

a hidden gem in new draft legislation

Spotlight on superannuation contributions

The rules relating to superannuation contributions are constantly changing. Consider, for example, a deceptively simple question: How much after tax contributions can a person make? Depending on when in the last 11 years this question was asked, there have been at least four answers and there will soon be a fifth answer. Similarly, consider for [read more]

Article 201611 Child Pension

Impact of the superannuation reforms on child pensions

Transfer balance cap As the key super reforms (primarily contained in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fair and Sustainable Superannuation) Act 2016 (Cth)) is now law, it is an ideal time to consider the impact of the superannuation reforms on succession planning. The focus of this article is the interaction between pensions payable to minor children [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]

smsf automatically reversionary or not

Should a pension from an SMSF be automatically reversionary or not?

Superannuation law is currently undergoing one of the most significant periods of change in almost a decade. This has led to practitioners having to reconsider the conventional wisdom on various issues relating to superannuation. One such area where previous standard practice needs to be revisited is succession planning. In this article I want to focus [read more]

smsf deed update checklist

SMSF deed update checklist

DBA Lawyers is often asked whether a particular SMSF trust deed needs to be updated. As a general guide, we recommend that SMSF trust deeds should be updated every 4–5 years, or sooner in the case of major legislative change. The last major legislative change to superannuation that warranted a blanket update for all SMSF [read more]

ato withholds an smsf's abn

ATO withholds an SMSF’s ABN from the Super Fund Lookup — can anything be done?

The ATO’s online Super Fund Lookup (www.superfundlookup.gov.au) (‘Lookup’) contains the ATO’s record of the current compliance status of SMSFs. Employers and large superannuation funds can utilise the Lookup to determine the credentials of the SMSF (eg, whether it is treated as complying) for the purposes of super contributions and rollovers. In the normal course of [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]