Running your own super fund is not necessarily a difficult task (although recent changes to the super laws have made it more challenging), but you need to keep your wits about you. You may hear a lot a noise about DIY super, and sometimes from people who know nothing about super. Your best defence against bad advice is ... Read more
Concessional contributions: What form do I use to claim a tax deduction?
Q: I want to make a tax-deductible super contribution to my super fund, in this case, an SMSF, although I also have a super account with an industry fund. I am trying to find the official form for claiming this type of deduction. Could you lead me to a link where I could find a generic S290-170 notice of intent to ... Read more
Employees can now make tax-deductible super contributions
As an employee, the general rule when making super contributions is, you can take advantage of the concessional (before-tax) contributions rules by salary sacrificing, or by making tax-deductible super contributions. If you’re self-employed, you can take advantage of the concessional contributions rules by making ... Read more
Super for beginners: 8 steps to super success
Merely thinking about your super means you’re straddling the first major hurdle that most Australians face when planning (or not) for their retirement and looking into your future. As an employee, you have your employer helping you with your retirement plans by making compulsory super contributions (Superannuation ... Read more
Super for beginners: Top 10 must-know facts
Ten years ago, in January 2009, we launched the SuperGuide website, and in March 2009 we published the first monthly SuperGuide newsletter. Since that time we have received thousands of questions, from our millions of visitors, on different aspects of superannuation. We try to represent as many questions as possible in ... Read more
SMSF investment: Companies that pay fully franked dividends
Q: Can you tell me how you find a list of all ASX-listed companies that pay fully franked dividends? The question you ask is a very popular question and unfortunately the answer is no longer straightforward. A complete list of companies that pay franked dividends used to be available for the cost of a daily ... Read more
Franked dividends and franking credits: How do they work?
Tax alert! Bill Shorten (on behalf of the ALP) promises that his party will ban cash tax refunds for excess franking credits for Australians not receiving a government pension, taking effect from 1 July 2019. Such a promise can only happen if a federal election is held in early 2019, and such a promise is also subject ... Read more
ALP’s franking credits policy targets shareholders with low taxable incomes
“Having a non-means tested government payment solely on the criteria that you own shares and giving people a refund when you haven't actually paid income tax for the year that the refund covers, what's the economic theory behind that?" asked Opposition Leader Bill Shorten recently, and reported by Phillip Coorey in the ... Read more
Excess franking credits: Shorten shortchanges millions of retirees
Note: A version of this article was first published in April 2018. We have updated this article with further detail on the ALP’s proposed ban on excess franking credits refunds. On 13 March 2018, the leader of the Opposition (Australian Labor Party) drew an ideological line in the economic sands and threatened the ... Read more
SMSF investment: What assets do DIY super trustees prefer?
Note: We regularly update this article with the latest data on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) released by the Australian Taxation Office. This article contains the latest data available up to September 2018 (for data on SMSF growth and for asset allocation data as at March 2018). Each quarter the ATO ... Read more
SMSF advice: Is your accountant still allowed to help your fund?
Being the trustee of a self-managed super fund can be a challenging task at times, and most people need a bit of help at certain stages when running an SMSF, particularly when a decision, or strategy, requires financial advice. Traditionally, many Australians have turned to their accountant for assistance, but under ... Read more
Who are the wealthy retirees targeted in Labor’s plans?
Roger Wilkins, University of Melbourne In Labor’s budget reply speech, Bill Shorten reaffirmed the plan to remove refundability of dividend imputation credits. His pitch was to Australian voters on lower and middle incomes, in which he pledged to look after the country’s ageing population: We know that giving older ... Read more
