The Federal Parliament recently passed legislation which affects the tax treatment of limited recourse borrowing arrangements. The Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 2) Act 2015 (Cth) (‘Act’)... read more →
A 2015 Supreme Court decision is both good news and a caution for contributions to super and SMSFs and bankruptcy. A recent court decision demonstrates what can happen when a... read more →
Munro v Munro [2015] QSC 215 is the latest case involving a binding death benefit nomination (‘BDBN’) that was held not to be binding. This case is a very important... read more →
Once it is clear that an SMSF has run into problems, it seems counter intuitive to some trustees to assist the ATO in investigation or in prospectively rectifying issues. However,... read more →
Treasury released draft legislation recently that will impact limited recourse borrowing arrangements. For full details see http://www.treasury.gov.au/ConsultationsandReviews/Consultations/2015/Look-through-treatment-for-instalment-warrants We consider the major changes for SMSFs and limited recourse borrowing arrangements. Background Naturally,... read more →
Introduction The recent decision of Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v Lyons [2014] FCA 1353 provides various insights for SMSF trustees, as explained in this article. Facts of decision On 6... read more →
The ATO has recently released self managed superannuation fund determination SMSFD 2014/1. SMSFD 2014/1 builds on taxation ruling TR 2013/5 and SMSFD 2013/2 and provides some important insights regarding the... read more →
ATO Interpretive Decision 2014/22 addresses the question: ‘Can an adult child be a 'death benefits dependant' of his or her deceased parent for the purposes of section 302-195 of the... read more →
There are many strategies put forward on how to provide smooth and effective succession for a self managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) members. Fortunately, while there is no ‘one size fits... read more →
There has been much conjecture as to whether a self managed superannuation fund (‘SMSF’) trustee can implement a cross-insurance strategy after 1 July 2014. The ATO recently addressed this question;... read more →
The FSI final report — chaired by David Murray — was recently released. The full text is available at http://fsi.gov.au/publications/final-report/ As expected, it has recommended that limited recourse borrowing arrangements (‘LRBAs’) in... read more →
Two mysteries that loom large on the SMSF landscape are the issues of SMSF penalties and the sole purpose test. However, a recent Federal Court case sheds some light on... read more →
Introduction True to its word, on 10 October 2014 the Government introduced draft legislation, which proposes practical and long-awaited changes to the treatment of excess non-concessional contributions (‘NCCs’). This article... read more →
In 2013, DBA Lawyers released an article that considered the ability to deduct superannuation contributions for directors of trustees of ‘passive’ investment trusts. The article proved to be quite controversial.... read more →
The latest official word on the status of excess non-concessional contributions was a positive one, but caution is still needed. The latest official word The ATO published on Friday 26... read more →
ATO issues TRIS confirmation of key commutation strategy The ATO in SMSFD 2013/2 confirmed that an account-based pension can be partially commuted to a lump sum to enable a member... read more →
Australian Taxation Office Interpretative Decision ATO ID 2014/23 confirms that loans to an unrelated trust will not constitute an in-house asset of an SMSF. However, advisers must exercise a high... read more →
The end of the financial year is fast approaching. We now address some of the key items that should be considered in the lead up to 30 June 2014. DBA... read more →
Introduction Those who have suffered loss as a result of defective ATO administration may be eligible to claim compensation from the ATO. Such compensation will only be available in limited... read more →
The ATO has warned SMSF trustees about a new range of SMSF administrative penalties that can be imposed for a range of breaches of the law. This includes breaches that... read more →