SUPERCentral News
Originally the Government proposed that for 2012/13 and following financial years, super investors aged 50 or more would be entitled to a concessional contributions cap of $50,000 per year, if they had a super balance under $500,000.
The Government has proposed that from the 2012/13 financial year, the contributions tax rate would be 30% (instead of 15%) for super members whose income is $300,000 or more. Essentially, concessional contributions would be taxed at 30% and not 15%.
The main items arising from the Budget for SMSFs are..
We have recently introduced our SMSF Gearing Unwinding product for use in NSW.
The ATO has released the LRB Ruling - SMSF 2012/1.
The SUPERCentral Governing Rules is currently in the process of being updated. The update process will be completed by 4 June 2012.
Australian residency for a superannuation fund is a precondition for the superannuation fund qualifying as a complying superannuation fund. While the same definition of “Australian superannuation fund” applies to both SMSFs and non-SMSFs, its application to SMSFs can have a disproportionate impact on SMSFs compared to non-SMSF funds.
The ATO has established a Superannuation Technical Committee as a liaison and discussion forum for practitioner bodies and the ATO to raise and discuss technical and administrative issues affecting superannuation (both SMSFs and non-SMSFs.)
The ATO has released its latest SMSF statistics up to March 2012.
A recent amendment to the Land Tax Management Act, 1956 (NSW) has removed any doubt that the entitlement to the zero rate threshold for NSW Land Tax applies to both APRA regulated superannuation funds as well as self managed superannuation funds.
The ATO has announced an initiative to improve the integrity of SMSF trustee and member details.
The NSW Duties Act, 1997 has recently been amended to clarify the operation of the “section 62A” concession. This concession provides that nominal stamp duty (of $50 or $500 depending on the nature of the transaction) applies where real estate owned by a member is transferred to a self managed superannuation fund to provide retirement benefits for that member.
In NSW (but not in other states) the Supreme Court has the power to make notional estate orders in relation to deceased estates. This power can be used to declare all or part of the deceased’s super benefit as notional estate. Such an order overrides any binding death benefit nomination and also overrides any trustee discretion.
It seems that the ATO will soon announce a minor concession in relation to excess contributions.
A recent AAT case has highlighted the fact that internet banking transactions are not necessarily instantaneous and that the excess contributions rules are applied with draconian precision.
This Interpretative Decision confirms the view that concessional contributions are counted for contribution cap purposes when they are allocated to the member and not when they are received by the trustee.
A number of our SMSF clients have told us recently that when arranging a loan from their bank the Bank advised them that it would be cheaper to have the holding trust deed and associated documents prepared by the Bank’s lawyers.
The ATO has released a new ID dealing with anti-detriment top ups of superannuation lump sums.
Can a SMSF engage in limited recourse borrowing while in pension phase?
The ATO has recently published its SMSF statistics as at 31 December 2011.