SUPERCentral News
You may be aware that toward the end of 2021, in a private ruling, the ATO confirmed the tax payable in respect of a gift of superannuation to a member’s estate where that super is to be held in a testamentary discretionary trust.
For SMSFs which were established during 2021/22 financial year, the due date for lodging their 2021/22 SMSF Annual Return is 31 December 2022. This will be the case whether the SMSFs lodges their own return or lodges using a tax agent.
When Downsizer Contributions were first introduced (1 July 2018) the eligibility age for the beneficiary (that is the person for whom the contribution was made) of a Downsizer Contribution was age 65. The eligibility age requirement does not apply to the maker of the contribution. Consequently, an individual who is aged 60 could have made a Downsizer Contribution for a spouse who is aged 66. However, that individual could not make a Downsizer Contribution for him or herself.
The Government is continuing its policy to remove financial barriers which currently inhibit age pensioners (and service pensioners) from downsizing due to the application of the means tests to the sale proceeds of a pensioner’s principal place of residence.
Today, the High Court has handed down its decision in the Hill v Zuda Pty Ltd as trustee for the Holly Superannuation Fund case. Michael Hallinan reports.
APRA has recently published its quarterly superannuation statistics for the December 2021 Quarter. One key item from that publication is that total super assets at 31 December 2021 are estimated to be $3.5 trillion, of which the SMSF segment is estimated to be $876 billion.
Given the end of the financial year is nigh, it is time to ensure that the minimum pension drawdown - the minimum drawdown for short - has been or will be satisfied in respect of the current financial year. If the minimum drawdown is not satisfied by the end of the financial year, the SMSF will lose its entitlement to the full exempt current pension income deduction. Additionally, there are transfer account balance consequences as well.
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The contribution rules applying for the 2022/23 and later financial years have been significantly (and favourably) altered by the implementation of the Federal Government’s superannuation reform announced in the 2021 Federal Budget.
The current budget contained only one SMSF relevant measure: the extension of the pension drawdown relief for another year.
The ATO recently released more significant superannuation thresholds which are to apply to the 2022/23 financial year.
The Tax Office recently released its long-awaited guidance on how it will treat distributions from a family trust in situations where it believes that someone other than the recipient of the trust distribution will actually obtain the benefit of it, and the reason for distributing to the initial recipient was to save tax.
Where a superannuation fund (including an SMSF) makes a payment to a member where the payment is in breach of the payments standards, the payment will be included in the assessable income of the member and taxed in the member's hands at the member's marginal rate of tax. The payment is expressly excluded from the favourable taxation treatment which applies to superannuation lump sums. This is the result of s304-10(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.
The SUPERCentral Governing Rules have been updated with effect from 17 February 2022. Some (but not all) of the key details of the changes to the Governing Rules are detailed here.
COVID-19 re-contributions are superannuation contributions which are a return to the superannuation system of a COVID-19 release amount. They are new personal superannuation contributions which have been identified by you as being COVID-19 re-contributions.
If you have SMSF trust deeds which have not been updated recently and you would like to hear how our SUPERCentral bulk update process works, please give us a call on 02 8296 6266.
We offer a full suite of online documents and services to support your SMSF needs from SMSF establishment, trust deeds, amendment, compliance, pensions, superannuation splitting, winding up, death benefit planning and more.
Most of the superannuation changes announced in the 2021 May Federal Budget are now before Parliament as Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Superannuation Outcomes for Australians and Helping Australian Businesses Invest) Bill 2021 (yes - that is its official title!).
In broad terms, the Superannuation Guarantee Scheme (SG Scheme) provides that an employer who does not provide a minimum level of superannuation support (currently 10% of an employee's ordinary time earnings for 2021/22 but this will increase to 10.5% for 2022/23) will be liable to pay to the Government a charge (the Superannuation Guarantee Charge or SG Charge).