Superannuation fund trustees who receive compensation from financial institutions and insurance providers must consider how receipt of these payments may impact a member’s contribution caps.

SMSF trustees must get ready to process rollovers via SuperStream by 1 October 2021. This means trustees will no longer be able to send and receive paper rollover benefit statements and cheques between superannuation funds.

There has been an increase in the number of SMSFs entering into arrangements where real property is purchased and developed to subsequently be sold or rented out. Such investments can help the fund build up its wealth more quickly than other forms, and from a tax standpoint, any rent or eventual capital gain may enjoy concessional tax treatment.

New legislation will ensure that when an employee moves jobs, the super fund they used with their former employer will be ‘stapled’ and will automatically follow them.

Under current rules, if an employee changes jobs multiple times over their working life and does not nominate a superannuation fund to their employer, they could end up with multiple superannuation accounts, each charging their own fees and insurance premiums.

Recent legislative reforms to the superannuation arena are set to change the retirement savings landscape for many Australians.

The Federal Government says the Your Future, Your Super reforms will help ensure superannuation works in the best financial interests of all Australians by removing unnecessary waste, increasing accountability and transparency, and providing more flexibility for families and individuals.

There will most likely come a time when your SMSF will need to be wound up, with a change in members, the fund’s finances, perhaps separation or other family reasons among the many reasons why winding up the fund becomes necessary.

When you’re faced with a complex or high-risk question in tax or super, briefing a barrister can provide you with the expertise and perspective to help you move towards a solution with confidence.

All members of a self-managed super fund (SMSF) must be individual trustees or directors of the fund’s corporate trustee. Anyone 18 years old or over can be a trustee or director of a super fund as long as they’re not under a legal disability (such as mental incapacity) or a disqualified person.

Making extra before-tax contributions into super (called concessional contributions) can help boost a person’s retirement savings. But fund members need to be aware of the implications for when they exceed the concessional contributions cap.

The ATO recently clarified the evidence that is required to support real property valuations within SMSFs, particularly in light of the unique challenges brought about by COVID-19.

Most people think of retirement as a time to put your feet up and relax, but it can also be a time when pre-retirees and retirees alike actually need to flex the grey matter.

With all the rules and regulations swirling around the superannuation sector these days, it’s not unusual for those nearing retirement to feel compelled to dust off the calculator and bone up on certain superannuation concepts. The transfer balance account and the transfer balance cap are topics that can challenge many retirees.

The latest annual statistical report from APRA has been released, covering the 2020 income year but only made public at the end of January 2021.

Total superannuation industry assets were $2.9 trillion as at 30 June 2020. Of this total, $1.9 trillion was held by APRA-regulated superannuation entities and $0.7 trillion was held by self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), which are regulated by the ATO. The remaining $210 billion comprised exempt public sector superannuation schemes ($147 billion) and the balance of life office statutory funds ($63 billion).

It has long been an accepted standard that the auditor of an SMSF needs to be independent of that fund, and be a third party entity to the SMSF.

This requirement is written into the relevant legislation. There have of course been breaches of this requirement, and instances where auditors and/or fund trustees have suffered administrative penalties or even disqualification for non-compliance in this area.

While the ATO has lately been focusing on the rollout of stimulus measures, it has also flagged that audit work is not off the table completely.

In late July, when the ATO fronted a parliamentary Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, its representative said plans were to start tax audits sometime between September and October 2020. Time and efforts however were diverted to the rollout of the JobKeeper scheme and other stimulus measures, with the ATO sourcing staff for this work by redeploying people from initiating audits, saying it had been a “conscious choice” not to initiate new audits during the peak of the pandemic.

A bill has been introduced into Parliament that partially implements a measure to allow an increase in the maximum number of allowable members in self-managed superannuation funds and small APRA funds from four to six