ATO News Tax

How Scammers Are Targeting Pre-retirees and Their SMSFs

By: Nicola Field Self-managed super fund trustees and their advisors need to be alert to the latest round of wealth-stripping fraudulent schemes. Fraudsters have Australia’s over-50s in their sights, and pre-retirees with self-managed super funds (SMSFs) are particularly vulnerable. Figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) show that in 2015, reported losses to […]

October 10, 2016
ATO News Tax

ATO Takes Aim at Serious Smsf Non-compliance

By: Steve Burnham ATO takes aim at serious SMSF non-compliance. Speaking at national superannuation conference in late August, the ATO’s superannuation assistant commissioner Kasey Macfarlane highlighted a number of issues that the ATO will be taking a keen interest in over the coming year. Chief among these concerns, Macfarlane said, was the fact of serious non-compliance […]

October 1, 2016
Tax

How Super Fund Fees Can Hurt Your Future Finances

By: Anthony Keane EXORBITANT super fund fees could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in retirement so it’s wise to make sure you’re not paying more than you should. Superannuation specialists say fees are more transparent than ever with easy checks available online and on annual fund statements — which should arrive by the end […]

September 30, 2016
Business Management

Big Businesses Can Help Eliminate Barriers to SMB Owners Growing Their Super, Says MYOB

By: James Harkness Small to medium business owners are diligent when it comes to meeting their superannuation obligations to staff but growing their personal super is ‘not top of mind’, according to Tim Reed, CEO of cloud accounting provider MYOB. He told Dynamic Business that government and big business must play a role in eliminating barriers to owners […]

September 27, 2016
Tax

Superstream and Smsfs: Your Employer Will Need Some Details, Quick

By: Steve Burnham The ATO has advised that as of October 28 this year, all employers will be required to be SuperStream compliant. The previous deadline of June 30 was extended, as by mid-June the ATO discovered that many (if not most) small businesses had trouble meeting that deadline. The end of October was picked, but […]

September 20, 2016
Tax

A Well-provided Retirement? Rely on Investment Returns, Not Contributions

By: Steve Burnham The contentious area of contribution caps is something that many SMSF trustees grapple with, but a new report may re-cast this as an overdone concern, especially regarding the eventual level of retirement savings that members end up with. A related factor (about which many may have already pondered) is how much of one’s […]

September 14, 2016
Tax

Deceased Estates: Things You Need to Know

  Unfortunately, having to deal with managing a deceased estate is a task many of us will have to shoulder at some stage in our lives — but having some familiarity with what’s involved beforehand will hopefully ease the burden. It is worth remembering that the law that applies to the assets and income of […]

September 7, 2016
Business Management

Let Millennials Use Super to Start a Business

By: Clayton Howes What if we could start putting superannuation to better use? The internet has changed the way we view and treat money. Paypal pioneered the idea of sharing money online, while services like ApplePay allow consumers to ditch their wallets for good. Yet when it comes to superannuation, we may be leaving some benefits […]

August 18, 2016
Tax

Ask Noel: Will My Children Pay Tax on Their Inheritance

By: Noel Whittaker I have executed a binding nomination in my super fund. Can you please advise me if my three children will still have to pay tax on the money from my super fund or any other money left to them in my will. A binding nomination has no effect on the tax treatment of […]

August 1, 2016
ATO News Tax

How to Find and Merge All Your Lost Super Accounts in Three Easy Steps

By: Taxpayer It’s human nature to avoid painful administrative tasks – even when completing those tasks results in clear benefit. Superannuation is one of those tasks. ATO stats suggest too many taxpayers are setting-and-forgetting their super responsibilities; in 2014, $14 billion in lost super went unclaimed. With the advent of MyGov, though, it’s now easy […]

June 24, 2016