Some SMSF trustees may find the benefits of a related party lender more appealing. Key tips Ease of set up A loan agreement can generally be set up between the trustee of the SMSF and the related party lender for a fixed fee. Once this agreement is in place, the money can then be drawn [read more]

The question of whether an SMSF can carry on a business of property development is one that many would like clear guidance on; especially as the ATO has recently flagged that an SMSF carrying on a business may be in contravention of certain rules. The good news here is that the ATO has confirmed that [read more]

Some key and somewhat controversial changes in the final Cooper SMSF report issued this Monday are summarised below. Note that our June News covered Cooper’s preliminary findings on SMSFs. Final Cooper Report SMSFs not to be subject to the SCT This is a back flip from the preliminary recommendation that certain SMSF death benefit disputes [read more]

New superannuation fund borrowing rules commenced on 6 July 2010. The old rules (contained in s 67(4A)) were deleted and replaced with revised provisions being ss 67A and 67B of the Supervision Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (‘SISA’). This is good news for SMSFs as it will provide them with more flexibility in some respects. [read more]

The government has proposes key changes for the super fund borrowing rules in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Bill 2010 (Cth) (‘Bill’). How will the changes affect my SMSF? Refinancing Allowed A big question under the current borrowing rules was whether refinancing was allowable. The ATO stated in a ruling last year that refinancing constitutes [read more]

The Cooper Review and the government’s response to the Henry Review have recently been released. This issue of DBA News discusses the key aspects of each. Cooper Review Borrowing is here to stay (at least for two years) The review proposes a ‘wait and see’ approach in respect of SMSF borrowings. It recommends reviewing these [read more]

The ATO have recently issued the above Taxpayer Alert (‘TA’). A TA is an early warning of tax and superannuation planning measures that the ATO have under assessment. A TA briefly describes the issues and highlights the features that are of concern to the ATO. What arrangements are covered? TA 2010/2 is concerned with arrangements [read more]

SMSF trustees who hold pre-August 1999 investments in related unit trusts will recall the transitional rules that allowed some further reinvestment in these trusts until 30 June 2009. With that deadline now behind us, many are looking for avenues to open up further investment. A popular strategy which has emerged is to convert to a [read more]

SMSFs often invest in unit trusts and should do so with great care as there are a number of tips and traps; even for experienced advisers. If an SMSF now invests in a related unit trust after 30 June 2009, such an investment will be an in-house asset. Therefore, the overall value of in-house assets [read more]

Most will be aware that since September 2007, it has been possible for SMSF trustees to borrow to acquire an asset, subject to certain conditions. One condition is that the asset acquired must be held on trust for the SMSF trustee. This trust is often referred to by many different names: eg, an instalment warrant [read more]