SUPERCentral News
The ATO has issued draft SPR 2020/D2 which when registered will exempt SMSFs that allow a rent deferral to a related party tenant from the in-house assets ("IHA") provisions in the following situations. The transitional measure applies to the 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years.
The following integrity measures have been implemented in relation to downsizer contributions, to ensure that the provisions operate as intended when the initiative was first introduced. The changes were made to section 292-102 of the ITAA 1997.
The SUPERCentral Tool Kit is our comprehensive document centre for professional advisers and accountants. All Tool Kit documents have been reviewed and updated for the new financial year, and a range of new documents have been added.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Registries Modernisation and Other Measures) Act 2020 amended the Corporations Act to introduce a director identification number ("DIN") requirement. All directors of Australian companies, including corporate trustee directors of SMSFs are subject to this new DIN requirement.
If you are looking to develop your expertise in Estate Planning to broaden your service offering to clients then you may be interested in our EPAdvantage Estate Planning Program, which will commence soon, and we are taking registrations now.
The ATO has issued PCG2020/5 to extend its transitional compliance approach to general expenses NALI.
For 2019-20 and 2020-21 financial years, the Government has allowed a 50% reduction in the minimum pension limit ("transitional MPL") for account based and similar pensions as part of its COVID-19 economic response. The transitional MPL came into effect on 25 March 2020.
The recent Tax Act amendment on excepted income of testamentary trust distributions may potentially affect superannuation proceeds trusts ("SPT") that are structured as testamentary trusts. The amendment is an integrity measure to prevent assets unrelated to the estate being injected into the testamentary trust for the purpose of generating concessionally taxed excepted income.
The Total Superannuation Balance ("TSB") of a member calculated as at 30 June each year is pivotal to determining the SMSF's eligibility for certain super measures as well as contributions that may be made in respect of that member in the ensuing year.
The ATO has issued SMSFRB 2020/1 ("SMSFR") to highlight its main concerns in relation to SMSF property development. It is comprehensive and traverses structuring, investment rules, NALI and the anti-avoidance provisions. SMSF trustees that enter into property development projects must understand the complexity of such ventures and implement all the applicable rules from start to completion in a manner consistent with retirement income objectives. All transactions should be carefully documented.
The trust deed is the most pivotal document of a self-managed super fund. The trust deed, together with superannuation laws, set out the governing rules of the fund.An up-to-date, compliant and high-quality trust deed not only meets regulatory and legislative compliance but provides express permissions that enable specific investments, retirement and wealth creation strategies to be implemented.
The ATO has finalised SPR2020/D1 in relation to Intermediary Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements. The commencement date of this Determination is 24 September 2007 and applies to all Intermediary LRBA established from that date.
The trustee must "deal at arm's length with the other party" is a requirement that underpins all SMSF transactions. While this ensures that SMSFs are not used as a scheme to artificially enhance concessionally taxed super benefits, failure to adhere to some aspects of this requirement may result in inadvertent contraventions with unintended tax consequences.
Recently the Australian Government introduced new regulations to temporarily enable legal documents to be signed and/or witnessed remotely via electronic signature. We are pleased to advise that you can now execute and witness SUPERCentral e-form documents electronically.
In the past month we have supported a number of urgent requests for estate plans for clients working in front line positions. In response, our associates Townsends Lawyers, have developed a streamlined estate planning process to quickly and effectively establish interim Estate Plans for those with pressing need.
The ATO has published guidelines for the process and procedures of the COVID-19 Early Release of Superannuation ("Early Release"). Registration of interest has commenced and application will open from 20 April 2020.
On 4th April 2020, the Acting Minister for Immigration, Alan Tudge, made an announcement to enable "most temporary visa holders with work rights to access their Australian superannuation to help support themselves during this crisis."
We are pleased to advise that we have now completed the primary pack of COVID-19 Tool Kit documentation.
The Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 ("the Act") received assent on 24 March 2020. Schedule 13 of the Act amends the SIS regulations to make provision for COVID-19 temporarily early release of superannuation. Application for this early release must be made within the period of 6 months starting on the day the new regulation commences.