The Government is making two changes to superannuation in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The pension minimum percentages for this year and next will be halved. This will allow a lesser payment to be taken but, where there will now be unexpected withdrawals in excess of the new pension minimum, a reassessment of the nature of any...
Yesterday I contacted all our alliance partners whose pension clients had not yet met their minimum pension requirements. There weren't many and, I expect, there will be none by close of business today. Interestingly, I fielded a number of comments about my post earlier this week, on promissory notes that indicated a need for clarification - so...
There are always those who leave their super contributions to the last minute. As a contribution is not made until it is received by the fund, invariably, some don’t quite make it in time. As June 30 is a Sunday this year there are likely to be even more casualties than usual. A contribution is made by...
Much will be written about Scomo’s “miracle” win and its implications. It’s certainly good news on the SMSF front. Apart from avoiding the legislative assault promised by Labor (“If you don’t like it don’t vote for us” said Chris Bowen) we can expect the following changes; removal of the work test requirement for those aged over...
In a pre-budget announcement, the Treasurer has announced 3 proposed changes to superannuation; Individuals who are 65 to 66 will be able to contribute without passing the work test in the year of contribution. It has already been proposed that individuals over age 65, who have passed the work test in the previous financial year, would...
The Supreme Court of Victoria has prevented a surviving trustee from exercising discretion and paying the adult daughter (trustee) the deceased benefits instead of the surviving spouse. Echoing the Katz v Grossman case of old, in Marsella v Wareham the daughter was the only other trustee when Mum died. The daughter needed a second trustee so...
The SIS Act pays special attention to the inherent conflict of interest that exists in all SMSFs due to the trustees being the members and vice versa. This limits the financial dealings that the fund can have with related parties so identifying who these are is vital. SIS sec 10(1) defines these as a member, standard...
Generally, an SMSF can only acquire unlisted shares from a member or associate if the company is related. This is because the shares would constitute in-house assets. Naturally, the acquisition would only be allowable if it did not cause the total level of in-house assets in the fund to breach 5%. This creates a paradox. An SMSF...
An in-house asset is any of the following: a loan to, or an investment in, a related party of your fund an investment in a related trust of your fund an asset of your fund that is leased to a related party. There are some exceptions, including: business real property that is leased between your fund and a...
The ATO states that, SMSFs that use bitcoin as an investment may be subject to capital gains tax rules when they dispose of it, as they would for shares of similar assets. Record-keeping requirements are similar to other transactions. SMSFs should keep records of: the date of the transaction the amount in Australian dollars what the transaction was...