Tax

Maximising Contributions Into Your SMSF

By Gabriela Rusu Most superannuation strategies revolve around the effective use of contributions to gradually build the amount of super savings needed to live comfortably in retirement. Super contribution limits and tax concessions changed on 1 July 2017, placing significant restrictions on the ability to make additional contributions to super. Concessional (before-tax) contributions  Concessional contributions include […]

April 5, 2018
Tax

Asset Valuations and the Contribution Caps

By Steve Burnham Asset valuations and the contribution caps are both contentious issues, with many SMSFs failing to regularly update their asset valuations and some auditors turning a blind eye. And SMSF auditors who do the wrong thing in relation to valuations may also find themselves facing action by ASIC. The new contribution caps require […]

March 23, 2018
Tax

Can an SMSF Invest in Property Development?

By Reece Agland The ATO has been sending some mixed messages about property development involving an SMSF, and has indicated that it is one of the issues on its radar for 2018. So is property development an allowable investment for an SMSF? The short answer yes, but be careful. A longer answer is be very […]

March 9, 2018
Tax

Wealthy Increasingly Using SMSFs as Slush Funds to Minimise Tax

By Rod Myer Self-managed superannuation funds are increasingly being used as slush funds to manage the assets of wealthy people rather than for building independent retirements, according to experts. New figures from the Australian Taxation Office show that personal contributions by members of SMSFs are increasingly dominating and are at much higher levels than personal contributions […]

February 9, 2018
Tax

SMSFs: More ‘Real-time’ Reporting Will Be Required Soon

  Along with the new transfer balance cap that is being introduced from July 1 this year, the ATO has indicated that more “events-based” reporting will be required for it to adequately deal with the evolving SMSF regime. Indications that this was a direction that SMSF trustees may be expected to take arose from the […]

June 20, 2017
Tax

More Super Reform Changes Being Made on the Fly

  Further rumoured amendments to the superannuation reforms taking effect on July 1, 2017, just over two months away, are seeding further panic among the superannuation industry. The document circulated by the ATO lists seven areas where further amendments, termed “minor and technical”, are being sought. It is proposed that the government intends to enact […]

April 25, 2017
Tax

Unpaid Superannuation ‘far Worse’ Than First Thought

By: Jackson Stiles A Senate committee has been told that the devastating problem of unpaid superannuation is at least $2 billion worse than previous estimates. Back in December, a joint Industry Super Australia (ISA) and Cbus report exploded into the headlines by estimating that bosses had ripped off 2.4 million workers to the tune of $3.6 billion worth […]

March 28, 2017
Tax

Ten Reasons I Love My SMSF

By: Finn Kelly Superannuation is likely already one of your largest assets, and for many of us it’ll most certainly be our largest asset one day. My question to you is, if you know it’s your largest asset, then are you taking it seriously? And if not, why not? If you’re a Gen Y, I know […]

March 13, 2017
Tax

SMSFs: The Upward March Continues

  The ATO has just released the latest of what has become a series of annual publications. The report, Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview, started being published in late 2011 and has become an anticipated event for many in the SMSF arena — containing as it usually does some good news. The statistical report […]

March 9, 2017